Word of Encouragement

As we head in to the Hanukkah and Christmas Holidays, I have my radio set on the Holiday channel. Guess which song causes me to want to immediately switch channels? I’ll give you a hint with some of these lyrics…

“You're a mean one
You really are a heel
You're as cuddly as a cactus
You're as charming as an eel…”

The answer of course is Mr. Grinch. Turns out with the continuing news of the “second wave of Covid” he really is “working and trying to spoil everybody with his bad attitude.” So, let’s tell Mr. Grinch ”No, No, No!” and use these words of encouragement as the antidote to Mr. Grinch.

As I have shared in the past, I sold books door-to-door for three summers while I was in college for the Southwestern company. We were on straight commission and expected to work at least six days and 75 hours per week. The week of sales training before hitting the field was intense but we were also blessed to hear from legendary motivational speakers such as Zig Ziegler, Mort Utley, Og Mandino and others. What I and many other Southwestern alumni have realized was that the lessons learned in our late teens and early 20s would have such a profound impact later on in life.

For example, realizing that the rejections we would get as door-to-door salespeople could lead to discouragement, Southwestern encouraged us to memorize the home. The poem “Don’t quit!” starts out.

“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit."

Where am I going with all this?

Over the past couple of weeks, in reading emails and/or having conversations with friends, it’s pretty obvious that discouragement is in the air as the news continues to focus on the second wave of Covid. For some, celebrating Thanksgiving without family or friends, or the thought of having to “hunker down” during the Christmas holidays are a bit too much. As one of my friends told me: “These new lockdowns “stink” (that’s the PG version)!

If you can identify with those sentiments, then perhaps, like me, you can focus on the closing verse from “Don’t Quit”:

"So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."

If you’re wondering what “Don’t Quit” looks like, check out this story about a former American collegiate rugby player Robert Paylor. He was paralyzed from the chest down three years ago when he broke his neck during a championship game in 2017. Told by the doctors that he would never walk again, earlier this month he posted a video to twitter showing the moment he finally managed to get out of his wheelchair, grab a walker and take a few steps.

As he proclaims in the video: “I stood up out of my wheelchair on my own for the first time today! It took me 1,220 days to achieve this goal, and it was worth every second.”

After last week’s words of encouragement, I heard from several people who graciously shared their own Covid stories. Figuratively speaking, I was inspired by their example to follow Robert’s advice and get out of their wheelchair, grab their walker and take a few steps.

So, if the Grinch is knocking on your door, don’t answer! Instead, slip a copy under the door of this Devotional, “You will never get to the end of God’s love” from Pastor Rick Warren. Who knows? Maybe even the Grinch may have a change of heart after he reads from John about God’s plan: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

P.S. Before signing off, here’s a cool little video that features the One Voice Children’s Choir singing the Maroon 5 song “Memories” via video conference. As we celebrate Hanukkah and the Christmas Holidays, it will send the Grinch on his way.