Words of Encouragement From a Stranger

This afternoon, I was running on my favorite local trail. I hadn't run all weekend and this one was hard. My body was telling me I hadn't fed it enough throughout the day to give it the strength to perform now. And my mind was inclined to agree. I guess a cup of coffee, a banana, and some cinnamon swirl bread are hardly sufficient fuel for a long run. Every 5 minutes, I contemplated stopping and continuing the distance with a nice leisurely stroll.

But, with 15 minutes left of my 60 minute run, I passed a walker. He was slightly heavy, but working hard to make this exercise count. We smiled at each other and gave the half wave that is customary for two exercisees sharing a trail.

And then he said, "Good for you!"

It took me a minute to realize these were not lyrics to the song blarring from my ipod. By the time it registered that I had just received words encouragement from a stranger, I was too far past to respond.

However, if I could, I would have thanked him. Because now I couldn't give up. It would have trivialized his compliment of me and my good work.

I started thinking, too. How many times do I take the time to encourage a complete stranger, or a friend for that matter. Most of the time I'm too wrapped up in my own self to verbalize any awareness of others. But today, I needed that encouragement and I know there are times other do, too.

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. -Hebrews 13:2


When is the last time you received encouragement from a complete stranger? How did it make you feel?