Send a Whole Box of Encouragement
When you need to make a bigger impact on someone's life than a single greeting card can offer, why not send a box of encouragement? It's easy to do. Find a containter (perhaps something decorative or purposeful). Than write a bunch of simple notes on slips of paper. Write about what you appreciate about your friend, what you admire about their character or appreciate about what they mean to you personally.
If you have not already read it I wrote a story about the encouragement boxes I created. The link below will take you over to that story. The link to the left will take you to a page where you can purchase an encouragment box...or just study them to make your own. Either way...I hope you'll lift up someone's heart today with a big dose of encouragement.
Acknowledge the Grieving
When someone you know well experiences the loss of a loved one, you will probably have many opportunities to offer love and comfort. But what about when you happen upon someone you don't know who nevertheless lets you know they are grieving? Perhaps you are even certain you will never again meet that individual sitting next to you on the plane or in the waiting room.
My daughter is a nurse and she asked me to create a small art card that could be given in such moments. They are small enough to fit in a wallet or purse--and simple enough to say that even though you can't do much, you still care.
Be Faithful to the Forgotten
It's easy to express care for the friends you see every week. But what about when someone goes missing due to chronic illness, depression, grief or other isolating circumstance? Do you stick with them? And as much as you want to, how can you? It's hard to break through isolation from either side.
I created the "Gifts Over Time" collection as a way of expressing committed friendship by sending several gifts with a common theme over a time period of your choosing. For an isolated person to receive repeated messages that they are remembered provides powerful encouragement.
Of course you could create your own collection of gifts to make the best connection to your friend. Or, take a look at my "Loyal Comforter Gift Set" for ideas or purchase by using the link to the left.
Appreciate Those Who Serve You
One of the easiest ways for us to improve the tone of our culture is to offer simple kindness and appreciation to others. Many, if not most people, work in jobs that receive more negativity than gratitude. But learning to recognize and acknowledge the efforts of your baristas, nurses, delivery drivers and customer service agents is more powerful than we realize in our day-to-day busyness.
If you missed it, you might want to read the story about the power of appreciation found earlier in the website. The link below will take you there.
To help train ourselves (and others) to more regularly express appreciation we made some simple art cards to hand out to those who serve us. Use the link on the right to view the cards for ideas you can use or purchase a pack to help get you started.
Learn to Comfort
When someone near you is struggling deeply, or even just having a bad day, it can be very disarming. We don't know what to say and fear saying the wrong thing. As a result we often don't say anything. But acknowledging the pain of others is an important aspect of healthy relationships, community and culture.
We designed these "Comfort Cards" as a way of simply acknowledging the needs of others who are struggling. They are not profound or magical in anyway. But your effort to encourage through the gift of a card might prove to be powerful. Handing out a card now and then also trains us to acknowledge others even in sometimes uncomfortable circumstances.
These card sets come in both a generic and a faith-based format.
