Can you remember the last time you felt discouraged?  Well, you probably do remember, probably too well.  In fact, you can probably remember the exact time that it happened and where you were when you last felt that way.

Discouragement has this bad habit of sticking with us for a long time.  It’s hard to shake sometimes.  Like a sickness or a disease, like a cough that just won’t go away.

Life can feel like a minefield at times.  God has been very gracious to me throughout this year and I haven’t had to face a lot of discouragement.  There have been times though where the times aren’t so sunshiny and joyful, times when you just want to quit and walk away from it all for a season.

There is one folder in my email account that I go to when I feel very discouraged.  I call it my encouragement folder.  When I get an email that has any encouraging word or story in it, I label it “encouragement” and archive it with the rest of the folder.

The encouragement is more than an “atta boy” or a “good job”.  Most of them are stories about people who were impacted by the ministry that God has allowed me to be a part of.  God used me in a unique way to impact the lives of these people, some of whom I have never met to this day, other than a thank-you in reply to their email.

I started putting this folder together at my first position in ministry and it’s been very helpful to me ever since.  These are the stories that I want to hold onto.  They remind me why I do what I do, especially at those times when the crap hits the fan.

If you don’t have a folder like this for your email or something like that, I would encourage you to put one together.  Be reminded of the work that God has called you to do.  And be encouraged.