Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

Illustration texts

Hawthorne's Wife Encourages Him

Think how much more people could accomplish if they were encouraged. When Nathaniel Hawthorne, a heartbroken man, went home to tell his wife that he had been fired from his job in a customhouse and confessed that he was a failure, she surprised him with an exclamation of joy. She said triumphantly, ?Now, you can write your book!? He replied with sagging confidence, ?Yes, and what shall we live on while I am writing it?? To his amazement, she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial amount of money. He exclaimed, ?Where on earth did you get that?? She answered, ?I have always known that you were a man of genius. I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece. So every week out of the money you have given me for housekeeping, I have saved something; here is enough to last us for one whole year. From her trust and confidence came one of the greatest novels of American literature ? The Scarlet Letter. (Source: Joe Griffith, Speaker's Library of Business Quotes)

Just Be Yourself

Before a man went out to speak, his wife decided to offer her some advice. She said, ?Don?t try to be charming, witty or intellectual. Just be yourself.? Some people just don't know how to be an encourager!

Creativity Blooms With Praise

Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are truly appreciated. Alexander Osborn

Making an Average Person Superior

Enthusiasm and persistence can make an average person superior; indifference and lethargy can make a superior person average. William A. Ward

Twain on Praising Wives

"If husbands could realize what large returns of profit may be gotten out of a wife by a small word of praise paid over the counter when the market is just right, they would bring matters around the way they wish them much oftener than they usually do." --Mark Twain.

Study of Fathers and Daughters

In one insightful study of fathers and their daughters, it was found that these women?s achievements in life were directly related to the level of their father?s acceptance of them. Those who truly desire to give their children the blessing will provide the room for these boys and girls to grow by encouraging their potential and by picturing a special future for them. (From the collection of Barry St. Clair)

Cheerleaders Changing Light Bulbs

How many cheerleaders does it take to change a light bulb? Answer? Ten. One to do it, 9 to hug her when she is finished!

Managers Impacting Attitudes

?A great manager has a knack for making ballplayers think they are better than they think they are.? - Reggie Jackson (Found in Pat Riley, The Winner Within, G.P. Putnam?s Sons, New York, 1993, p. 63.)

Motivating Through Encouragement

Topics: Teaching, Encouragement, Leadership In leading and motivating people, which works better, encouragement or rebuke? In some situations, the encouragement, say some Psychologists who worked with a disruptive second grade class. The teacher's class was getting out of control, with kids getting up out of their seats and roaming around the class. So, two Psychologists picked up their stopwatches and came to the rescue. They sat in the back of the class, counting how many times the students got out of their seats over periods of time. Over a 20-minute period, children would be popping up all over the classroom and she said "Sit down!" 7 times. The Psychologists suggested to increase the frequency of her "Sit down!" commands to see if it made a difference. So, she tripled the number of "Sit down's" over the next 20 minutes. Sure enough, it made a difference. But the wrong way! Twice as many stand ups occurred! Over a period of days they duplicated both ways again and found the results to be the same. The final week of the study, they asked the teacher to not tell the students to sit down. Instead, she should quietly compliment the students who remained seated and did their assignments. The result? Thirty three percent less stand ups were recorded, significantly less than any other portion of the experiment. (Study found in The Friendship Factor, by Alan Loy McGinnis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1979, p. 94)

Someone Else Thought They Could

A lot of people have gone farther than they thought they could because someone else thought they could. --Zig Ziglar

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