Beverly Monical

I read a story this morning and I wanted to share it with you. It’s about encouragement. It really touched me.

A family adopted a dog from the pound when their daughter was 13 years old. Her name was Penny and was the smartest dog and so obedient. She loved everybody and everybody loved her. When the daughter went off to college, her parents moved away and reluctantly decided to give Penny away to another family.

After a while, Penny decided that the father wasn’t coming back and she began to grieve. In fact, it seemed she gave up on life and before long arthritis and other problems left her paralyzed. When the father heard about Penny’s sad state, he drove 700 miles to bring her home. He found Penny curled up in a little ball, unable to move. Penny’s tail thrashed wildly when she saw her master. Remarkably, with love and attention, from the original owners, showered on Penny, she recovered. Within 2 weeks of returning home, she was running and jumping. She lived 11 more years without another sign of arthritis.

This story about a family dog reminded me that if even a mutt needs love and encouragement to stay alive, then so does every human being on the face of the earth. We are social beings, designed to depend on God and each other. Yet some of us are curled up in a pitiful little ball of discouragement.

Every day we have the power to bring life by giving encouragement to others or we can ignore their needs and think only of ourselves. The choice is ours to make.

What can you say or do today to encourage a family member or a friend that needs some “Transforming Love”? Who can you encourage today? You just might be the one to make the difference.