0:00:04 - Heather

It's Your Encouraging 5-Minute Podcast. You give us five minutes, we'll give you encouragement. Sometimes it can be hard to find encouragement, especially easy encouragement, so we're going to bring you some good news and encouragement for your day. 

Hey, I'm Eric and this is Heather our friend Sarah’s, kind of like everybody else, you know, paid all the bills, bought all the food, but there was a little bit more week than money left and on the way home from the grocery her kids were begging for ice cream, like begging and crying, all the drama right. She said look guys, I don't have that much money left before payday. So she heard, of course, from the backseat. And then all of a sudden she hears God, we'd really love some ice cream. Is there any way you can give mommy money so we can get ice cream tonight? We know you can Thank you. So Sarah's like guys, hey, Right With God all things are possible, why would you ask? 

This is not going to happen. God doesn't do that. He's busy with natural disasters and sick people. And her son was like mom, you're going to have plenty of money for ice cream, God told me. And she's like, oh, it doesn't work that way. So she gets home, checks the mail, and the mail was an envelope. And the envelope was a check for $123. 

0:01:11 - Eric

What flavor?

0:01:13 - Heather

Right, she overpaid a student loan in 2007. And they just sent her a check. So yeah, everybody got ice cream and organization got a donation, isn't that? 

0:01:21 - Eric

amazing. 

0:01:26 - Heather

We forget that prayer can change things. Yeah, we do, I think. Well, I mean, for me anyway I get sometimes a little cynical, oh ye, of little faith. Right, exactly. And that's how I feel sometimes, because I'll pray about something really, really big and thank God, are you listening? And then I pray for something little and seemingly insignificant and he's like no, I hear you, I'm still working, you just can't see it yet We'd encourage you to keep on praying for whatever it is that you're praying for, don't give up. 

0:01:48 - Eric

Bring your A game. You know what I mean. 

0:01:51 - Heather

You've heard that phrase oh, yeah, yeah. 

0:01:52 - Eric

Do your best, give your all, knock it out of the park. The reality is, some days your A game is more like a C plus, or at least it is for me sometimes. 

0:02:01 - Heather

You know what I'm saying Wow that high, I'm impressed, all right. 

0:02:04 - Eric

C minus. I was just yeah, but it's the truth Some days you but I think you do your very best. 

0:02:11 - Heather

Yes. 

0:02:12 - Eric

Within your capacity. 

0:02:14 - Heather

It's so funny because I have a quote that's actually in my personal email that people do the best they can with the emotional capacity they have. Say that again People do the best they can with the emotional capacity they have. Say that again People do the best they can with the emotional capacity they have. There you go, because some days maybe things are weighing you down and some days maybe you're distracted and you're not sure why. Listen, you're doing your best. 

0:02:37 - Eric

And, honestly, no matter what grade it is today, you just make your best effort. 

0:02:41 - Heather

Absolutely Every day is not going to be an A plus, and certainly do not compare your journey to somebody else's. 

0:02:47 - Eric

I see this from time to time Get a daily win, and the latest one I see is get three daily wins in like different categories. Oh, okay, get a physical win today. Get a mental win, get a spiritual win, maybe the far most important one, yeah, exactly. The physical walking, running. I do that, I walk, I run sometimes, sometimes I do both, sometimes it's I don't know how you define it. 

0:03:12 - Heather

But you know what, even like you know, maybe you go to the gym or maybe you're just getting back into exercising and you know what? You made a trip halfway around the block. That's a great start and that, to me, would be a win. 

0:03:25 - Eric

I'd say this too, because it took me a long time to learn this If you miss a day or two, don't throw in the towel. Get right back out there, lift some weights, run. 

0:03:34 - Heather

Don't beat yourself up, right. 

0:03:36 - Eric

For the mental win just reading or writing or journaling which I've always wanted to do but never have. 

0:03:52 - Heather

Yeah, same, I'm totally the same on that and I'll start. And again, it's so easy if you have an app there's so many apps you can have one that gives you a journal prompt every day and you just answer that question. 

0:03:56 - Eric

But yeah, my daughter keeps a pen and paper journal and I always like that's so cool, the three daily wins a physical, a mental and, like I said, probably the most important is that spiritual win each day. And that's just praying, meditating on a portion of God's word, studying it. 

0:04:13 - Heather

Oh yeah, and again it's apps for the win. They've made it so easy to do Bible plans and Bible readings that not only help you grow closer to God, but do it in a way that makes it just seem so real and so wonderful to know how he feels about you. 

0:04:28 - Eric

Getting those daily wins and, again, not worrying so much about what grade you get on the day. That's what I do sometimes, and it reminds me of the verse in Colossians, chapter three, 23 and 24, a couple of verses actually. Whatever you do, whatever you do today, work at it hard. As for the Lord, you're not doing it for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You're serving Jesus Christ. 

0:04:56 - Heather

We hope you have been encouraged today. Thank you so much for listening to Your Encouraging 5-Minute Podcast.