Who Believes In You?

I don't know how long ago I started writing this, but I decided to finish it up and share it with you!

This is Derek.  I love that he always
believes in me.

I listened to a man talking on a Christian radio station.  He asked who it was that believed in us before we believed in ourselves.  I expect that for me it was my Mother.  Even when I did things like pretend to be sick, I knew she expected better of me, and believed I would meet her expectations.  I also remember a teacher that believed in my honesty when it was questioned by someone else and how much that meant to me.

This unidentified man on the radio continued by telling a story of a 1st grade boy who thought he was not smart.  He loved his teacher but he tried to avoid looking at her because he was so afraid she would ask him a question and discover that he wasn't smart.  Once she came up behind him when he was working and he was upset, but she just put her hand on his shoulder, put a gold star on his paper, and told him that she thought he was a really smart boy.  She had made him feel so good in that moment that he decided to become a teacher so he could help other people feel that way -- and he did grow up to be a teacher.

In my life I have been blessed with a lot of very encouraging people who believe in me even when I have let myself, or others down.  This has made such a big difference to me!  I always want to be the kind of person who notices the good in others, and helps them to see it in themselves.  I think it is okay to have great expectations for those around us because they have great potential, and even when they aren't perfect (none of us are), our belief in them and our encouragement could help them to do great things!