Working in a book store you meet a lot of people, and many of them quite interesting.
A young woman named Gina was looking for a book on leadership and networking. Specifically, she said that tomorrow, being Friday, she was to go out on several appointments in the community and wanted to make the best impression.
Gina was full of personality, witty, intelligent, articulate and seemed socially at ease. To me, she had already succeeded before she even arrived for the appointments.
I suggested a couple of books that I had read and enjoyed and let her browse.
Upon her checking out I was near the front of the store, and I told her, with one of my fellow employees standing nearby, “Gina, I would be remiss if I did not tell you, I believe you are going to do well tomorrow on all of your appointments. In fact, you are going to do so well that I bet you even surprise yourself. God never makes a mistake in creating someone specifically to make them who He wants them to be. To meet who He wants them to meet. He created you Gina. He knows just what He is doing. And tomorrow when you are out on your appointments God will be saying, ‘Go, Gina, Go!'”
She smiled and thanked me for the encouragement. I asked her where she was going after purchasing the books. She responded as though she had anticipated the question, “To read these books and put my plan together for tomorrow.”
Later I recalled the encounter.
It wasn’t a book Gina needed.
What Gina needed was someone to say, “Go Gina Go!”
Today, find someone that you can cheer on, that you can encourage to do great things. Find out what they need and place it ahead of your own need. Find out what interests them and place their interests above what interests you most.
I promise to do the same.
“…do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others.” Philippians 2:4
I may never see Gina again, but, I bet her day tomorrow will be an outstanding day.
Because of me? Not hardly.
But because God gave me an opportunity to speak on His behalf when I said what He was saying…
“Go Gina Go!!!”
JHH
Aparetnly God is trying to tell me something. I received an email from someone else this morning about “Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda”, which had almost the same message. We don’t always tell people what they need to hear. Thanks for sharing.
This past weekend in Savannah, GA, I ran my first 1/2 Marathon. When I first started running back in February, I never dreamed that one day I’d be able to run for 13.1 miles. It was a goal I set for myself and was so excited about accomplishing it. In fact, on the Thursday afternoon before, I started feeling ill and ultimately had the 24 hour stomach flu. I was so upset, thinking the race may not happen for me. Fortunately, it was seriously only 24 hours. With five hours of rest time on the drive down and then a nice carb-loaded dinner, I was good to go.
Anyway, I was running alone (no one I knew around me) and somewhere between miles 11 and 12 I had begun to slow down significantly. I was tired and my body ached. I had no doubts I would finish, but didn’t know if I would finish “running”. I was disappointed in myself but honestly didn’t have the drive on my own to keep from walking it out. The next thing I know, this lady came running up beside me. She said, “Honey, you are too close to the finish line to slow down now. Come on, you’re with me now. Let’s finish this thing strong. My name is Melanie, what your name?” Then she yelled up about five feet ahead and said, “Shannon, we’ve taken on Amy. I found her alone and about to start walking. She’s with us now!” Shannon said, “Welcome, Amy.”
And that was all I needed! I was still tired and my body still ached, but I was no longer alone and I had hope that I could do it! We finished the race side-by-side. She turned to me, shook my hand and said, “Good job” right outside the finish line, and we went our separate ways.
One of the things I keep thinking about is that Melanie didn’t wait until she became a great runner herself in order to encourage others. Honestly, she was no better runner than I. In fact, she came up from behind me. Sometimes I think we believe we have to be superior in something first.
I’m already planning my next one (possibly in Arizona in January) and this next time, I’m going to be somebody’s Melanie!
Thank you for the hope you give each day!