Cheer leaders wanted!

I grew up in Canada, where football isn't a very popular sport and cheer teams are pretty much non existent. Oh but I also grew up watching Saved by the Bell and my desire to cheer was a deep rooted flame within me. I remember my brother dating a girl that had competed in cheer competitions and I asked her on multiple occasions if she could show me her home videos of her cheer competitions. Ya, I know embarrassing right? 

As long as I'm being honest, part of the reason I wanted to be a cheer leader in high school was because of the cute uniform (its a good thing I used to work in fashion). Mostly, I just love to encourage others. I would love to get to the place in my life where everyday I'm cheering on the ones I love the most. I'm talking, waking up in the morning and looking for opportunities wherever I go to tell people "You're doing an incredible job" or "I'm so proud of you!" Don't worry you won't run into me at the grocery store with pom poms in my hand. I just know the power of our words. I know sometimes the people we care about make decisions we may not understand. How good would it be if instead of criticizing them we just stood on the sidelines cheering them all the way! Our kids need to hear that they're fearfully and wonderfully made and that we are their biggest fans. Our husbands need to know we are SO proud of them and that they're still the cutest guy in the room to us. Our parents need to know how thankful we are for all they have done for us and how wonderful its been having them cheers us on over the years.

Our teachers need to know they're doing an outstanding job and we'll unite with them to see our children excel. Our pastors and church staff need to know we pray for them and are thankful for teaching us and believing with us that God has great things in store. 

I know from my personal experience that when you are faced with tough situations its very easy to view our circumstances in a negative way. When you choose joy and find the good in others, we take our eyes off ourselves and train our minds to find the good in dire situations. Plus, who doesn't feel amazing when someone tells you what a fantastic job you've done! 

So dust off that uniform and start training cause sooner or later someone you know is going to need you to stand up and say "I am so proud of you...good job!"