There was a parade on my street a couple days ago.
Yep, for real.
Car after car -- at least 50 of them -- crawling through my quite subdivision.
The cars were beeping their horns and displaying homemade signs on their doors.
It was quite a ruckus, and I'd never seen anything like it!
I went outside and asked a lady in the parade what was going on.
She said they were teachers and staff from a local elementary school... and they wanted to cheer up all their students on lockdown so they decided to spend the morning driving by all their homes.
What a great idea!
And it got me thinking...
There are so many around us who are scared, anxious and depressed right now... people who could use some uplifting.
And one of the best ways you can help is to reach out, extend some humanity and bring a little encouragement... in any creative way you can come up with.
Now you may be thinking...
"Wait a minute... I'm scared, anxious and depressed, and could use some encouragement myself... how am I supposed to encourage someone else?"
Well, interestingly, the Bible tells us to encourage one another.
And when we do this, something supernatural happens: we end up not only giving encouragement, we get it.
It's just the way God made the world to work...
... when we get outside of ourselves and seek to build up someone else, we too are lifted up!
So consider who you might encourage today...
... maybe someone who is alone, unemployed or especially stressed in some way.
You don't have to organize a parade. Just calling, texting or setting up a video chat works fine.
The point is to take the initiative, get in touch, and encourage somebody.
There are many ways you can do that.
Think of one and go with it.
You'll help make somebody's day. And it might even make your day too.
'Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing (1 Thess.5:11).