Emily Wierenga asked me to join her Imperfect Prose team late in 2012. Honored, humbled I responded with an excited “yes”. Today is my first time leading off the Imperfect Prose community. I chose the prompt, encouragement. And then I struggled to write. The fog settled in and the walls came up.
But before you go there …
So, I emailed Holly, a member of the Imperfect Prose team of writers and asked for prayer. Later I gave Emily glimpses into my wrestling spirit.
Immediately this word became real. It wore flesh and bones and had a heart.
The possibility held in the word encouragement became manifested through their actions, their very words.
It seemed I couldn’t draw from the well on my own. They undergirded and strengthened me.
But the process I went through of fog and uncertainty were necessary for working out true understanding.
There is a mystery in why. But on the other side it felt needed. The struggle strengthened.
In the middle of my struggle, a bird flew into the glass door through which I see the world while I write. Injured and broken, lying on my porch, I felt viscerally, the injury along with him.
He couldn’t fly. I couldn’t help. He lay wounded. I ached.
There was so much imagery in this crippled bird for my soul to soak in. I left for a bit and when I returned he was gone. There were no signs of death, no stray feathers. My heart hopes there was recovery for him.
I choose to think he flew away.
And I think of how encouragement is poured out. Where it starts and stops. What transpires in our struggle, in the times when we feel on our backs in defeat. And yet the Saints intercede and pray.
And speak words of encouragement into our souls.
And we too can fly again.
Please join me as we explore encouragement. See you at Em’s.
elizabeth w. marshall 
The quote on my Mary Engelbreit calendar today (gift from a daughter) is “Be a lamp a lifeboat or a ladder.” -Rumi
This post is a perfect example of that!
believing with you that the broken spirit revived and found wings
Stunned and still until we feel the encouragement to go on. Thanks, DAF
May it always be, my dear and precious friend, that we lean in close, breathe holy whispers, and leave marks of hope on each other. May it always be…
How I relate to this process and delight in the beautiful result!
Ashley, you are an encourager through every fiber of your sweet being. Your passion for life and others is so beautiful to hear and see displayed through your gift of writing. Thank you always for being along on this journey. Gift.
I’m choosing to believe with you that the bird flew away.
“And we too can fly again.”
We’ll all be encouraged and blessed by your joining up with the team at Imperfect Prose. Thanks for saying “yes” to that call. Fly on!
oh, yes, hoping the bird flew away…Congrats, and what a great word and gift: encouragement 🙂
Hey Dolly, I have missed you. Hope you are well. Yes let’s think of this bird flying free and healed. A beautiful picture of hope. You are an encourager to me and I am grateful.