As many of you know, I send out a weekly Words for the Week to family and friends. It started as a way to spend time praying for my family, friends and faith partners and share with them some nugget of encouragement for the week. Sometimes it’s a sentence. Sometimes a paragraph. Sometimes a story. I’ve discovered each one had a special meaning to some one at some time. The message just resonated with them at just the time they needed it most. I never know who until after the fact.

When I first started this mission, it basically was to lift up my wife daily. It expanded to family, then friends, then faith partners. Daily I still send them a message and cartoon. Weekly it’s generally a little deeper and more time-consuming because it’s not just a message, but a prayer for them, asking God to meet them where they need Him most.

When I started my “words for the week” way back yonder, it wasn’t to get anything back … and that fact remains. It was just a way to pray for my family and friends and give them a little encouragement. And the ministry has grown over the years, from five to 10 to around 25 and now hovering close to 150. And they do give me feedback, telling me when the message was just “right.” It started with a simple e-mail and now includes Messenger.

By posting on Monday, we’ll expand the “ministry” here and on Facebook and Twitter to share our words and experiences. Word of mouth is very powerful.

My “words” experience also was a key impetus for starting this blog, 823 posts back over the past six plus years. I hoped — and hope — to give a little encouragement as we journey through life.  I hope my new audience gives me feedback as well. I love hearing the stories.

So, here’s the first entry. It will be anchored on Mondays.