How many times have you heard your mother or dad tell you to “shut up and listen” ? If you’re normal, that phrase is certainly one of the major training points used to help us “grow up”. I know there are kinder ways of saying this but let’s just be honest and fess up to using this phrase on many occasions.

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Jesus began his life as a homeless child. After the wise men visited, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to “Get up and take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2:13 (NIV).

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We would all likely agree that the world revolves around a paycheck. Almost all of the people who visit us are seeking financial assistance in one form or another. Many have found themselves in a financial fix for which they have little or no control. Layoffs, illnesses causing short term disability, work related injuries causing long term layoffs, and the obvious problem of aging are all issues we have to deal with when people come for help. We try to be sensitive to each problem but we do operate within a budget that sometimes hinders us from doing everything we would like to do. Sometimes all we can do is provide food or clothing, and of course a willingness to listen and an offer of prayer.

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When you start looking up the subject of encouraging one another the first thing that becomes obvious is that encouragement played a great role in establishing the Hebrew nation.

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In my work as benevolence minister, I don’t get to talk to too many happy people. When trying to help folks with problems, there’s obviously little room for anything but worries within the lives of those we see. Even though we deal with anxious and hurting people, it is rewarding to me to recognize that even people in crisis can exhibit extraordinary outlooks regarding their own life and their family’s lives.

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