Three tables over from the entrance I anxiously sat with my back press up against the hard wood-planked seats. Slowly I gazed up as each person walked through the doors of the coffee house, curious if this was her- the stranger I was scheduled meet. With a huge grin and light in her eyes, my new friend made her way through the doors to my table and hugged me. It was then I knew, she was the real deal. There in a coffee house two strangers connected over life and struggles.
Two weeks prior, early one morning I was making my way through my email when my eyes caught an unfamiliar name. I clicked open the mail and found myself drawn into the encouraging words from a sweet blog follower. At the closing of her email she ended with “GIRL I GET IT!!!” Those 4 words I’ve longed to hear for so so long. Those 4 words brought me to tears as they breathed hope back into my heart. A sweet blogger took the time to read my story and send along some encouragement, but most of all she identified with me. Isn’t that what most of us want to hear from those around us? Not how to fix our problems, but simply that they get it too?
The story doesn’t just end at the coffee shop… this sweet “stranger” quickly became my friend and shortly after coffee we were texting and planning our next meeting. A week later my husband and I sat in her home completely blessed by her and her husband’s hospitality, love, and encouragement. And all because she reached out in an email–to a stranger–to tell me, “I get it.”
How can you and I reach out today and simply encourage someone–even a stranger? Don’t underestimate the power of your words–even just 4 simple words, because I was the recipient of a once stranger-now friends’ encouraging words that meant the world.