LET YOUR FACE REFLECT YOUR INNER BEAUTY.

Our wedding day went well. 
I have just pulled up to the Hilton Hotel and Lorna has gone inside to check in to the expensive honeymoon suite.
I am driving Lorna’s car because I have been in College for the last two years. 
Money is a bit tight. 
As I start the car to go down to the overnight parking, the starter motor refuses to co-operate.
The hotel staff give me a hand by pushing the car while I jump in to put it in gear. 
The car starts up and I am away.
I wish that did not have to happen right in front of that posh hotel with all those people looking on. 
We got a new starter motor fitted and after that there was no problem.

When your spirit is encouraged, it is changed from unwilling to willing.
From sleepy to energised.
From unmotivated to motivated.

Not long after the Hilton Hotel episode we had more car trouble. 
This time the engine itself needed replacing.
Lorna and I were about to drive from Adelaide to Port Augusta. 
Then we were going to put the car and ourselves on the train to Alice Springs. 
After that we were going to drive over a long bit of rough road to the outback town of Katherine in the Northern Territory.
We found a mechanic who could replace the old engine with an almost brand new engine.

It took them 3 days.
When we returned to pick up the car it looked exactly the same on the outside.
In fact it was a little dirtier as the mechanic had not bothered to clean up his mess.
The good news is…it performed perfectly and got us all the way from Adelaide to the top end of Australia.
Let me turn this into a parable. 
When someone gets hyper-encouraged, they know that something big has happened on the inside. 
But because we live in a world that pays so much attention to outward appearance, discouragement comes along and steals away our self-esteem. 
We forget the encouraging words that have come our way.
We need to stop focusing our attention on the exterior.

When Lorna was pregnant, she had a glow about her the whole time.
I know this is not everyone’s experience.
It was as if the reality of carrying her own child…was to Lorna an experience that shrouded her in wonder.
What was happening on the inside was reflected visually. 
Her beauty actually increased while she was pregnant with both our children.

Do you realise what a powerful change has occurred on the inside of you? 
Encouragement has the power.
Deep down inside… you have been transformed in the most beautiful of ways.
It is beyond human explanation.

Years ago, at my youngest sister’s wedding, the best man mentioned his recent trip to Pakistan in his speech.
He liked to travel.
He was a good speaker and managed to keep us interested and entertained, his name was Andy.
I had never met him before that night.

A couple of days later my wife and I were in the city centre when we looked up and saw Andy walking along in our direction.
This was a completely random event.
We had to remind him who we were and where we had met previously.
We told him that we had thoroughly enjoyed his speech.
After we all got over the surprise of randomly meeting.
Andy informed us of his plans to drive up to Alice Springs with two other young men.
This would take them about three days.
It was a rough drive through the Australian outback.
Andy sure loved travelling!

A few days later the bad news came.
One of the young men had fallen asleep while driving, the car had rolled at high speed and Andy was thrown around in the back of the car.
Andy was now completely paralysed.
He was a quadriplegic.

Andy found himself in a very empty place.
He dug down deep and found the answer to his situation.
He chose to believe!

The decision to believe is the source of all encouragement.
He went on to become an example for us all.
And he still remains a person who believes.
He went on to build a life for himself.
Can you imagine the discouragement.
But he still decided to believe.

Tony Egar.