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Welcome to "A Touch of Encouragement." Hope is here, perfection isn’t.
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As many of us struggle to get it all right, Martha Williamson feels if we recognize we're a work in progress, that's when we can really start enjoying the journey.
As God prepares the road ahead, Martha Williamson believes there are things we must do now in order to be ready for God's blessings later.
When traveling down the road of life, Martha Williamson believes if you keep God close you will never travel alone.
Martha Williamson believes that even though our faith is often challenged, we can draw courage from those who came before us.
While going through photos, Martha Williamson discovered an interesting phenomenon: strangers were always waving. Martha believes it's a way to pass a little more goodwill into the world and say "it's good to be alive." What do you think?
Martha Williamson let her dreams of a "perfect kitchen" fade to let the real life of her family shine through.
Martha Williamson believes that sometimes the miracle we're looking for is not the miracle we need.
Following up on her popular video "Spiritual Steps on the Road to Success," Martha Williamson discusses the importance of packing our "spiritual map" while traveling the road to success.
Prayer Series Part 5
In the last of her five part series on prayer, Martha Williamson discusses why she believes prayer at its best is about truly getting connected with God and being thankful for the gifts we already have in our lives.
Prayer Series Part 4
Martha Williamson believes it's never too late to start praying and encourages us to open our hearts and take that step toward God, because when we do, He will always take a step toward us.
Don't miss Martha's prayer series finale next Tuesday, What Prayer Isn't.
Prayer Series Part 3
In the third part of her prayer series, Martha Williamson talks about how prayer is very personal and unique to each individual.
If you've missed the first two parts of this uplifting series, watch A Shawshank Kind of Prayer and All My Prayers Get Answered.
Tune in for next Tuesday's video, "Prayer in the Shade."
A child discovers God for the very first time.
Martha Williamson learned early in life that even amidst our deepest fears, God guides us through every dark room we encounter on our life journey.
Prayer Series Part 2
Martha Williamson doesn't know how prayer works, but does know that each prayer will be answered one way or another.
Prayer Series Part 1
In the first of her five part series on prayer, Martha Williamson describes the promise of prayer as something more than a conversation with God, instead she believes prayer can transport our spirits out of the mundane and into the light of God's love.
No rest for the wicked or weary? Martha Williamson sets the record straight.
By inventing her own kind of "home shopping network," Martha Williamson shares her secret of how she manages to get through Christmas without all of the last minute stressful shopping. She also reminds us that in life we don't always get the same chance twice, so grab a hold of opportunities when you can!
In this inspirational video, Martha Williamson shares the advice her father gave her on "rising above" bad situations.
Watch An Angel in the Plane, the video that inspired Martha to write The High Road.
What are you in it for?
Martha Williamson reminds us that it's not always the results of what we do that are important; instead it's the joy we receive from doing it.
Is there really such a thing as a coincidence?
In this video about God's perfect timing, Martha Williamson shares the amazing set of circumstances that happened when she took a recent trip to New Mexico.
Is a child's why really a simple question?
From her daughter's curiosity, Martha Williamson was not only reminded of a family's unique love, but also the love that God has for each of us.
An unintentional lesson.
Martha Williamson believes that every situation we're in can be a learning one.
A book she didn't want to have to read.
Martha Williamson believes when life throws us a curve ball there is one book we can always turn to, and that book is The Bible.
How do you see it?
Martha Williamson feels the essence of Easter is hard to capture in a simple description, but instead, requires us to believe that the impossible is always possible with God.
When silence holds the key.
When we're searching for answers, Martha Williamson believes that sometimes we just need to be quiet and listen to find them.
What are you waiting for?
Martha Williamson reminds us that we shouldn't worry about who we used to be, instead, focus on who we want to become.
To see another video about starting fresh each new day, watch A Brand New Start.
What are you looking for?
Martha Williamson reminds us that if we are always looking at things in the same way, nothing will change.
An old childhood friend is back!
If you feel abandoned or uncared for, Martha Williamson believes if you put your life in God's caring hands, He will redeem your days and give you hope.
To see Jeannie before her visit to the New York Doll hospital, watch The Transformation of Jeannie.
And here's the rest of the story.
As Martha Williamson finishes her story of the surprise hitchhiking bird, she reminds us that God's eyes are on everything and everyone, no matter the size.
(To hear about how the adventure started, watch The Little Things)
Hello, Friends!
I hope you have enjoyed hearing Keb' Mo's beautiful song. It won't hurt to hear it again and perhaps pass it along to a friend today!
You may notice that there is not a new video posted today. My husband and I received a surprise invitation to attend the inauguration and, never having seen an inauguration before, we made a last-minute trip to Washington, D.C. to witness a piece of history.
I apologize to those of you who were expecting a new video. But I'm happy to share a few non-partisan thoughts about our week in Washington. Most inspiring to me, for example, were the clear expressions of faith and goodwill extended from person to person and stranger to stranger as I walked down the streets and rode the subways of our nation's capital.
Dear Friends,
It is five-thirty in the morning and I have been reading your comments to the most current video. In the early morning quiet your thoughts and concerns seem particularly powerful. I hear a distant truck. The clock in the kitchen is ticking. But mostly at this time of day, there is nothing to distract me from the unique voices from the computer screen that speak of pain and courage, joy and commitment, and thankfully, even victory.
Is God enough? Do you knock on wood, thank your lucky stars, and read your horoscope too?
Surviving the worst economic times through God and good people.
Does your faith have something in common with an old silver dollar?
It's all about trusting God! Martha looks for a miracle in Guideposts magazine and finds three of them.
A courageous story of tea, sympathy, and never giving up.
For more information please visit www.rosetreecottage.com
A classic song for troubling times.
Three words that changed an angel's message.
Taking a risk in the produce aisle
Finding a safe haven.
The "matter" that really matters.
One act of kindness became the gift that kept on giving.
Read the article "Saving Lives, One Rent Check at a Time" to learn more about the man who helped inspire this video.
To be there or not to be there, that is the question.
A quirky love story that deserves another look.
What's in your pocket?
One dive changed the life of Olympic Diver Laura Wilkinson.
Why does God allow good things to happen?
A wrong number that changed everything.
It takes a moment of courage to find a lifetime of peace.
A miracle message from a mysterious stranger.
"Where there's life, there's hope."
The actor who wasn't acting.
I had it all worked out but God had different plans.
Who knew about the surprise inside?
An unselfish gift from a gentle soul.
What's really going on when we're going through troubles?
A question to all of you today: When you think of God, what do you "see" ?
I got to thinking about that this morning when I read this funny little story forwarded to me by my favorite high school English teacher, Ann Campbell:
What Martha gained when she gave this up.
I was just thinking about what I could say about Easter that hasn't been said before. I recalled the Easter Sunday when I made a choice between writing a philosophy paper or spending the first gorgeous day of Spring at a brunch and an Easter egg hunt with my friends in my last year of college. I don't remember what grade I received for that philosophy paper, but still regret walking down that green Berkshire hill and leaving my friends behind that beautiful morning.
I remember another Easter brunch about ten years ago. I was sitting outside beside a lake with a new friend. He looked out at the families arriving at the restaurant after church and said "I'm a Christian, too, you know. I think Jesus was amazing."
I looked up. Was? Jesus was, or is?
I am finally emerging from the fog of antibiotics and cough syrup. Just about everyone I know has been fighting the flu or bronchitis or pneumonia this month. And they all say the same thing: "I just can't seem to get over it."
It's been awhile since I felt well enough to sit at the computer and try to write something with even a "touch" of encouragement. I had plenty of ideas but not enough energy to do much about them. And one by one, those great ideas would float away. But one thought has persisted, the idea that we just don't give ourselves time anymore to heal. We don't allow our bodies the time they need to rest and recover. We don't allow our hearts the time we need to mend and overcome loss and pain.
With God, all things are possible!
If you are joining us here for the first time, WELCOME!
Somewhere out there in cyberspace, I imagine someone sitting in front of a computer, typing the word "hope" into a search engine, seeking just a moment of encouragement, a reason to hang in there, a voice that says "don't give up today." My mother always had a way of saying it: "keep on keeping on."
And that's what we're doing here on this site every day. Just helping each other to carry on.
If you saw today's video, "The Perfect Designer Kitchen" you'll notice that it's a far cry from our most "popular" video to date, "Getting Through The Grief."
It's a long way from deep and genuine grief to a discussion of matching potholders, and I was afraid that after receiving so many heartfelt responses last week that putting up a discussion about the smaller subjects in our lives might seen terribly trite by comparison.
This simple habit gave somebody a brand new start every day.
If it's hard to believe that it's 2008 already, imagine how they felt back in 1751. When the English fell asleep on March 24, 1751, they awoke to March 25, 1752. It was all part of a tricky plan to switch from the flawed Julian calendar to the presumably more accurate Gregorian calendar, according to Joey Green's "Contrary to Popular Belief".
This is my first blog ever and I thought I'd start it with a thank you to everyone at Beliefnet who made this webpage possible. They are terrific and so committed to making "A Touch of Encouragement" something special. We have all sorts of plans to expand it into a truly exciting place for spiritual and inspiration storytelling through blogs and your comments and especially through videos. But we can't do it without you and your feedback. Letters and e-mails of support meant so much to me all those years when we were making "Touched By An Angel" and I'm looking forward to hearing from our old friends again and also connecting with new friends.
If you remember Touched By An Angel, then you may recall that even though it was a television drama series, we tried to repeat one message as often as possible: "God exists, God loves you, God wants to be part of your life." I'm going to do that here, too. But I'm so glad that I'll have the chance to explore a lot more and to share a lot more personal thoughts about my walk with Jesus and the lessons I've learned along the way.
Please check out the WELCOME MESSAGE on the left side of the page. And PLEASE! Let me know what you think, what you'd like to see, what you'd like to talk about. I hope this will be a comfortable, regular rest stop for us to meet for awhile on the information highway!
More later! Martha
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