Pushing through pain.

Picture it. An early spring Saturday morning and the coastal fog has burned off to beautiful sunshine. But there I was...telling myself I'd never do this again. There she was...standing over me, saying something about, "Keep your elbows straight." "Push your bottom up." "You're doing good, Lorrie". Doing good?  Doesn't she know I'm in pain. Not major pain, but pain nevertheless. I know I saw a mop of dark strawberry blond hair, black workout clothes and weights in her hands standing over me...but I was wishing I could see the inside of my bed. The problem is I was there by my own doing. Once I got there I didn't really want to do what was needed. 

Sometimes in life we come across people that stand with us while we are in pain...giving us the little extra push to get through the hour, day, month, and year. Do you know someone you need to give a little extra push to today? They're in need of encouragement.  Paul in Acts 20 was noted for encouraging folks as he was moving from place to place. Now we might not be going on big mission trips, o.k. we might not even be leaving the house,  but there are people around us we can minister to by encouraging them. Let's start with the people closet to us.   (Unless your household has only you.) I'm talking about our kids, hubby (yes I went and said it...husbands), our siblings, our parents, our in-laws, the people we see everyday. We need to be like Paul (and my former boot camp trainer), encouraging others to continue through the pain. You know the verse---Ephesians 4:32