Encouragement Makes a Difference

The path of life is never straight. Filled with twists and turns, there is joy in what the unexpected might bring—but also uncertainty. When we don’t have the “next best step” laid out, we’re left to face some pressing questions: What should I do? How can I move on? What if I can’t handle what’s coming? Thankfully, there are people who cross our paths to encourage us when we are lost.

When we need career advice, teachers offer us different perspectives to guide us. When we’re scared of a medical diagnosis, doctors and priests hold our hands and encourage us to keep fighting. When we might not know what we need next, family members—and even strangers—can show us different options to consider, different ways to shape our lives for the better.

At some point, we all have the opportunity to be that pillar of encouragement to others. Encouragement is a powerful thing, and it can make a difference when we least expect it. Sometimes, that unexpected vote of confidence is what we need to move forward.

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Speeding Ticket Changed a Life

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us… If it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” — Romans 12:6–8

When 20-year-old Abbie Rutledge saw flashing blue lights in her rearview mirror, she knew what was coming. In August 2022, J.T. Brown, an Alabama state trooper, pulled Rutledge over for speeding. She explained to him that she couldn’t afford the ticket because she was stuck in a dead-end job and down on her finances. Instead of presenting her with the fine, Brown said to her, “Well, how about we talk about it then?”

The two conversed about possible career paths for Rutledge, and in the end, agreed nursing school would be a good step. Trooper Brown encouraged her to enroll, and he let her off with a warning. On the citation, he wrote a note, asking her to promise she would go to nursing or scrub school.

It was a promise Rutledge kept. She graduated in August 2024 from the two-year surgical technology program at Bevill State Community College in Jasper, Alabama. She now works as a surgical technician at the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital and gives full credit to Trooper Brown, who attended her graduation.

“I wanted him to see the impression he made on me,” Rutledge told CBS News. “Five minutes talking to anybody, even if you don’t know them, can make the largest impact of their life.”

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From School Janitor to Principal

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Romans 15:5–6

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Joseph “Gabe” Sonnier didn’t have plans to leave his janitor job—until he got the encouragement to do so. Sonnier had been a custodian at Port Barre Elementary in Louisiana for several years. In an interview with People magazine, he recalled Principal Westley Jones pulling him aside one day to tell him, “Being a janitor is a good job, and it’s an honest living, but I taught you unlimited potential. I think you’d benefit the students better as an educator. I’d rather see you grading papers than picking them up.”

Sonnier felt encouraged by Jones’ advice, but he still had financial obligations to fulfill for his family, so he put off pursuing a career as an educator for 15 years. Then, he finally went to college while continuing his work as a janitor, balancing a grueling schedule of work and studies. But the effort paid off.

In 2006, Sonnier graduated with an associate’s degree in general studies from Louisiana State University at Eunice, and in 2008, he received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Louisiana. Sonnier began teaching and later completed a master’s degree in science and education. In 2013, he was hired as principal of Port Barre Elementary, the very school he had cleaned for 27 years.

“Who would have thought 33 years ago, when I set foot on this campus, that I’d eventually be the leader of this school?” he reflected. “It’s not where you start, it’s how you finish. There are other ‘Gabes’ out there, and they should know that there’s hope.”

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You Are a Child of God

People living in poverty often struggle not only with the needs of day-to-day life, but a sense of their inherent worth. Sister Mary Lisa Renfer is working to change that through her role as medical director of St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, “which provides health care to uninsured patients in rural eastern Tennessee,” reported The Catholic Extension Society.

Both a doctor and a Religious Sister of Mercy, Sister Mary Lisa observed, “People come with their heads hung low, often with a certain amount of shame because of the circumstances that they come from. So our goal is to bring that love of Christ to them so that they know that they have dignity and they are worthy of excellent medical care. They are worthy to be treated as a whole human person because of just who they are as a child of God.”

Patients at the clinic are deeply appreciative of the care and encouragement they receive from Sister Mary Lisa and her staff. Carolyn Dunaway told of having a kidney removed due to cancer, while losing her job and health insurance. She found life-saving follow-up care at the clinic. “It makes me feel a little closer to God when I speak with them,” she said.

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Adoration Chapel Encourages Faith

“Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.” — Philemon 1:7

If finding the time to grab a coffee before class can be difficult for college students, making time for prayer and practicing your faith can be even harder. And in the list of college priorities, studying and homework always come first. That’s why Catholic Campus Ministry at Virginia Tech started a free coffee shop held at the same time and place as Eucharistic adoration.

“If we can allow students the opportunity to build good community and allow students the opportunity to grow in their relationship with Christ—through prayer, through the sacraments—then I think they’re going to be inspired to go and do awesome things for the Lord in our world,” Chris Hitzelberger, director of Catholic Campus Ministry, said in an interview with Our Sunday Visitor magazine.

Stationed inside the campus ministry’s Newman House, the weekly coffee shop is open when Eucharistic adoration takes place in a chapel upstairs. As students study, adoration is available as a needed break—or to experience for the first time. One of the ministry’s goals is to focus on students who are fallen-away Catholics—or who aren’t involved in campus ministry and may need some encouragement to try it.

“We’re not…a business where we’re trying to pump out coffee,” Hitzelberger said. “I think we’re really trying to pump out community.”

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Camp No Limits

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10

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Santino Iamunno, age 11, was born without most of his right hand. Fearful of showing his physical difference, he tends to hide his hand in his pocket when meeting new people. But when Santino is at Camp No Limits, he doesn’t have that problem.

Founded in 2004, Camp No Limits is offered specifically for kids dealing with limb loss or limb differences. The camp encourages kids to embrace who they are and to find community with their peers who are experiencing the same thing.

“It feels nice because I don’t have to…explain what happened that often,” Santino said in an interview with AP. “Because outside of camp, I’ll get a lot of questions like, ‘What happened?’ And I mean, I’ll explain it to them. But here, it’s better…because I don’t have to.”

The camp is offered in nine states with a special session held in Connecticut, where the counselors are physical and occupational therapy students from Quinnipiac University. The collaboration allows students to gain hands-on field experience and offer heartfelt encouragement to campers as they learn to navigate life more easily with their condition.

Occupational therapy student Tessa Maloney has been working with a 16-year-old camper who recently lost most of her leg to cancer. One day at camp, she watched him climb a flight of stairs to the top.

“That was such a big step for him,” she said. “He couldn’t do that before he came to camp. That was something that he worked on while he was here, and he felt confident enough in that new ability to do it in front of everyone. And it was just really inspiring.”

As you approach your day today, be open to opportunities in which you can offer encouraging words to someone else, to build them up or guide them on life’s sometimes difficult road. And if you yourself are the person in need of encouragement, pray that God sends you the graces that you need to move forward with hope and faith.

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“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

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