The Power of Encouraging Words

we need to use our words to encourage one another

By: Katherine Brown, Director of adventure and Drama chair

This summer, when I waded through what felt like an endless pile of scripts to pick a show for students I hadn’t met, Charlotte’s Web stuck in the back of my mind. The story of sacrificial love, the zany characters, and the use of words to build up a friend just spoke to me. 

What I loved about this story was the way that Charlotte used words. She used them in a very literal sense by writing them in the web, but she also spoke very kindly to and about her friend. She encouraged the things she saw in Wilbur, even if they weren’t fully developed yet. She spoke the things that she knew he could be. 

Last school year, a coworker told me I was joyful. The joy I carried before had nothing on the joy I carried for the months to follow! She had recognized a trait in me that I had not seen in myself. Now, a year later, I have carried that with me to remind myself that I am a new creation who can and will choose joy. If that small comment could make such an impact on me as an adult, I can’t help but think of the power of our words on our students. 

Throughout this show process, I have left a time for encouragement at the end of each rehearsal. My prayer is that even if the immediate impact is small, the eternal impact would be great. In a world full of ugliness and sin, we need to use our words to encourage one another, holding fast until the coming of our Savior. 

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:24-25

 Please come out and encourage the cast of Charlotte’s Web this Thursday at 4:30pm & Friday at 4:30pm & 7:30pm!