In the world of sports, assists seem underrated. All the glory seems to go to the scorer.
But in sports, as well as the rest of life, assists are invaluable, the play that sets up someone else to score or receive recognition.
I’ve seen a lot of assists outside of sports, when people help set up others to succeed or shine, typically without drawing any attention to themselves. These people might be teachers, coaches, parents, siblings, volunteers, co-workers or friends, quietly doing background work out of the spotlight.
Sometimes they simply encourage others, perhaps in just a few short words.
Two of my daughters have talked about friends from St. Columbkille Parish who consistently look for ways to build up others. Riah Carerra, a junior at Mercy High School, has used Twitter to draw attention to others’ accomplishments, including artwork by my daughter, Rose. And
Josie Wrobleski, an eighth-grader at St. Columbkille, often has kind words for classmates, including my daughter. Faustina needs to wear blue more often, Josie said, because it brings out the blue in her eyes.
Those actions might not seem to be a big deal. But as a mother, I appreciate the little things good friends do, especially when they help my children.
And the encouragers remind me that I should do more to lift up others, especially my own family members.
I hope to begin that work today, by acknowledging the gift of encouragement – my feeble attempt at encouraging the encouragers.
Thank you for your stealthy work.
By building up others, you build up the Kingdom of God.
Inspired
by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for
us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her
to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on
Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.
