You Were Made for This
041: Thankful for the Cheerleaders in My Life
Show notes
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 41. Last week, we waved good bye and said see you next year, to October, the month that makes me smile. This week, we welcome in November, the month that makes me thankful. It’s the month we remind ourselves of blessings in our life we often have the tendency to forget.
November is like our favorite-out-of-state relative who arrives once a year on our doorstep, smiling ear-to-ear, with arms wide open with hugs for everyone. Her very presence reminds us what it’s like to slow down, and take pleasure in enjoying the life we already have, rather than the one we want.
November is about our thankfulness for what is, that exceeds our hope for what isn’t in our lives. It’s the month to remind ourselves that at the end of the day, nothing enriches our life more than relationships. Not things, not experiences, not even good health.
So starting today, and for the four Wednesdays in this November, 2019, we’ll be looking at Four different kind of relationships we can be thankful for, some of which may surprise you. Four relationships that add rich meaning and purpose to our life. To start things off, in this episode I’d like us to consider the cheerleaders in our life.
I’ve been blessed with a number of cheerleaders in my life. 3 in particular standout:
Jennifer - She was born in November, November 11 to be exact. She wrote a 4 page email to me a year and a half ago, encouraging me to get the training I needed to start this podcast. I am so thankful for her cheering me on to get started with it. Vern - Mentioned him in episode 4, The Gift of Even Though. I’ll have a link to that episode at the end of the show notes, along with links to other resources I mentioned. He said something very brief and to the point“I think you’d be good at that.” Sadly, by the time this airs we’ll have attended his wife Lorraine’s Memorial service. She was 94. As she said in our phone call to her and Vern almost a year ago, “We’ve had such a good life.” Debi - The “THEM” shadow box. In my trips to Florida to lead a mission organization’s member care week, It’s where I first met Debi. She’d ask about the book. It was a work in progress. She asked to see a rough draft of the manuscript.Brought one the next time I came down.
On the way to the dinning hall she caught up with me, pulled out the dog eared part of the manuscript and told me how much she liked it. In great detail she described it.
Eventually the book was published and I sent her a copy. She wrote a really great review for iTunes.
And then months after the book came out I received a shadow box. Meticulously wrapped and packaged. 17 x 21 x1½ . All the major elements to the book.
Janet and I later took a brief vacation trip to Poland with her and her husband Bob after a conference we were at in Holland.
Here’s what I’m taking away from today’s episode, what I’ve learned, and what I hope you picked up on as well
First of all, I have much to be thankful for because of these 3 cheerleaders, and others in my life. When I think of how they cheered me on, how they believed in me when I wasn’t sure I believed in myself, it makes what I’m lacking in life pale in comparison.
Secondly, everyone needs a cheerleader. But you just can’t go looking for one.
You can’t ask someone to be this for you. You have to get your cheerleader organically. You can certainly pray for one, but often times they’re already around us, but we just don’t know it yet.
Even when we don’t have a cheerleader, Jesus is there to cheer us on. The Holy Spirit is there to gently move us forward to equip us to be the person God created us to be. He is our cheerleader.
Another thing I’m reminded of by cheerleaders is that when you don’t have one, it doesn’t stop you from being one yourself for another person.
Example: Janet and I volunteering when our grandkids were in elementary school. Going around to work stations and cheering those little kids on.
Another example: You can be a cheerleader by one singular act. e.g., the large tip I left for the waitress at Appleby’s in Eau Claire, and what I said to her about working on a Saturday night when her friends were out having a good time. I knew how hard it was to work P-T and go to college full-time.
The waitress came looking for me near the restroom, thinking I had made a mistake with the exceptionally large tip. Her eyes filled with tears.
Another thing, is that we don’t have to prove our worth to be cheered for. Michael on HS basketball team. Usual group of parents would come. One dad missed a few games. I asked where he was. He said he didn’t come because he knew his son wouldn’t get in the game and that he’d spend the night warming the bench.
Go anyway whether your kid gets to play or not. Hope with him in the stands, as he’s hoping on the bench that he’ll get it. Be there to watch him warm up and do layup drills before the 1st and 2nd half. Be there in case they get trounced and he’ll get in the game. Be there to watch him be part of team.
Before I close, here’s the he main take-away from today’s episode, our show in a sentence
We can find great fulfillment when we become a cheerleader for someone, because it reflects the character of God who cheers us on to be all that we are capable of being.
Here’s what you can do in response to today’s show
A couple of things come to mind:
Think about the people who have been your cheerleaders. Then thank them, and model what they did for you, and pay it forward with someone else.
Pray, and look around asking Jesus to show you someone for whom you could be a cheerleader. You’ll be amazed how fulfilling this can be.
You could also cheer someone on by writing an encouraging note that goes through the mail system (no texts or emails).
Closing
In closing, I’d love to hear from you, either by your comments in the show notes/comment box below, or by email.
As always, you will find the show notes for this episode by going to johncertalic.com/podcast. I hope your thinking was stimulated by today’s show, to both reflect and to act. Reflect with gratitude for the cheerleaders in your life. And then act by doing what they modeled for you.
You can do it, I know you can. You were made for this.
Our Relationship Quote of the Week
Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~ Marcel Proust
That’s all for today. May your souls blossom until we meet next week. Good-bye for now.
Resources mentioned in today’s show