As Long as It Is Called Today
I'm not really sure what the criteria was for the selection, or how we could have settled the competition anyway, but it was interesting that people were not happy to simply express their love and appreciation to their mother for all she had done for them. They had to rank their mothers above everyone else's. She's the best; as in, my mother is better than your's.
It reminded me of something I came across a few years back about a man named Dan Baber who honored his mother by posting an auction on eBay titled "Best Mother in the World." He promised that the winning bidder would receive an e-mail from his mom, Sue Hamilton. Baber also promised that the email would "make you feel like you are the most special person on the Earth."
The response was amazing. The auction lasted seven days and more than 40,000 people viewed it. More than 90 bid on it. The opening price was $1. The winning bid was $610. That's what one person was willing to pay for an email from someone they didn't know who would make them feel like they were "the most special person on the Earth."
It may have been a little silly, but it's still a good reminder of how much simple encouragement is worth. Whether you or I would pay that kind of money for it or not is another story, but we do understand how valuable encouragement can be. We all need it.
The good news is that you don't have to be the "Best Mother in the World" to make people feel special. Everyone has the ability and power to encourage others, and there are people all around whom God has placed in your path so that you could give them this gift.
I'm grateful for friends this week who have reached out to me and offered kind words, and tangible expressions of love and appreciation, that have left me walking a little taller. They have also challenged me to be that same source of encouragement to others around me.
"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:13)
So, be encouraged! And, be an encourager. I promise you, you won't regret it. I'm praying for you today, as I hope you are for me, and I look forward to seeing youSunday.
--Pastor Ken
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