Choose Your Course

Posted on Categories:Anxiety, Control, Depression, Difficulty, Dispare, Fear, Grief, Interpersonal Issues, Intimidation, Manipulation, Rage, Struggle, Worry, Worth 

Written by Kevin J. Phillips
Founder of Encouragement Now Ministries

“That’s what the Christian life is all about, isn’t it? Going, yet not knowing.

As followers of our Lord, we believe He leads us in a certain direction, or in pursuit of a precise goal.”

~ Charles R. Swindoll

 

Have you ever contemplated: “What is my life’s purpose? What do I want to accomplish, and who do I want to become?” I used to be in awe of folks who just knew what they wanted to do with their lives. For instance, my daughter has known she wanted to be a teacher ever since elementary school. But I was never able to connect with others who were certain about what they wanted to do or study in college.

I felt like an outsider, and that was frustrating since I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t know what to do with my life. Until I was in my late 30s, I had no idea I wanted to be a counselor. 

Yet, after giving it some thought, I saw that all of my struggles, difficulties, and experiences had prepared me to become a better, more capable counselor who could connect and relate to his patients. I concluded that each of us needs to determine our life course. 

Now, imagine for a moment that you are launching a rocket to the moon. Many engineers would be required to manage all the details for such a mission. Your job is to enter the correct coordinates for the rocket. If the coordinates are off by even 1/2 a degree, the mission would be a failure since that one mistake repeated over and over again would cause the rocket to veer and miss the moon by thousands of miles. Even a small mistake gets bigger the longer it goes uncorrected. To reach our goals or to achieve anything in life—we must have the proper trajectory set in place. But first, we must decide where we’re heading before setting the coordinates.

 

-What are your objectives and goals in life?-What sort of person do you want to be?
-What direction is your life currently going in, and does it need to change?

 

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Neurodivergent: Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder

Posted on Categories:ADHD, Hope, Mental Health 

Written by Bianca Gurciullo
Executive Assistant of Encouragement Now Ministries

“The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.”

~ Charles R. Swindoll

 

Growing up, many of us never heard about or knew there were neurodivergences such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Those who suffered from this attention deficit were just told to pay attention and settle down or face consequences. I know because I was an excellent example of an ADHDer’s ability to mask my symptoms. I used to think of myself as a chameleon when I realized how good I was at hiding my problems and being what people expected me to be. 

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Soldiers Hope

Posted on Categories:Encouragement, Faith, Fear, Hope 

Written by Kevin J. Phillips
Founder of Encouragement Now Ministries

“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”

~ Helen Keller

 

Amid a vast forest, a battle was going on between two armies. One army was outnumbered, but the General of the smaller army decided to launch an attack because he was confident they could win the battle. 

He called his Lieutenant and told him to get their soldiers to prepare for a fight. The Lieutenant informed the soldiers about their plan of attack on the enemy army. The soldiers were ready to battle but had fears and doubts as they knew they were low in numbers compared to the enemy army. 

The day for battle came, and the General knew about the doubts of his soldiers, so when they were on the way to the battlefield, the General told all his soldiers to halt at a shrine for prayer. After the prayer, the General stood in front of his soldiers with a coin in hand and said, “With faith in destiny, I will now toss this coin, if it’s heads, we will win, and if its tails we will lose.”

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Resting In Hope

Posted on Categories:Anxiety, Hope, Peace 

Written by Bianca Gurciullo
Executive Assistant of Encouragement Now Ministries

“Rest time is not a waste of time. It is economy to gather fresh strength…In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less.”

~ Charles Spurgeon

 

Rest is the opposite of anxiety, and we can find hope in that rest. Hope can get us through the hard times, but without rest, hope is hard to find. The question is: what are we hoping for? Is it strong enough to lead us to rest? Also, what are we putting our hope in, and will it cause us additional frustration?

 

Psalm 16:9        
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.

 

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The Captain of Encouragement

Posted on Categories:Encouragement, Mental Health 

Written by Kevin J. Phillips
Founder of Encouragement Now Ministries 

“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”

~ Helen Keller

 

I remember playing sports growing up until I blew out my knee skating. At times we were losing and knew we were done for. But there were always a few team members who had unbelievable, never-give-up attitudes and radiated positivity. They always carried an aura of, “We can do this!”

No matter what the scoreboard read, they would come into the huddle and everyone started to feel better, and more confident. The impossible would feel possible. Within a few plays or a couple of good defensive stops, their can-do attitudes started to spread like wildfire to the other team members. All of a sudden, we had a rally going. We began scoring again. The more we scored, the more encouraged and energetic we got. I think about my team members a few decades later, and it still inspires me today. 

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Discouragement is a Liar

Posted on Categories:Encouragement, Mental Health 

Written by Bianca Gurciullo
Executive Assistant of Encouragement Now Ministries

“Depression begins with disappointment. When disappointment festers in our soul, it leads to discouragement.”
~ Joyce Meyer

 

We all get discouraged, don’t we? Life often ebbs and flows; many find themselves on the mountaintop one day and in a valley the next! We don’t want to get discouraged and don’t like how this inconsistency makes us feel, but we are all susceptible to it because of our flawed and fallen human nature. 

We’ve also inherited discouragement tendencies from people in our lives. It’s a fact that life’s circumstances can shape our mindsets, but as children of God, we are told not to be discouraged, so how do we not allow it to overtake us?

 

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