How do I make others feel valued?

 When I was 6 years old my family moved to a small Texas town population reaching at the most a couple thousand people.  This is a place where everyone grew up knowing everyone else and when someone new moved into town they stood out like a sore thumb. That wouldn’t have been so bad if you had one or two siblings but there were 6 of us kids and I was the baby of the family.  To say our family stood out is an understatement.  My father and mother were home missionaries, which means that we didn’t have much money. We moved so my father could step in and lead a church that needed a pastor.  What we didn’t know was how small the church was, our family of 8 made up at least a quarter of the weekly attendance.  I remember this time being so hard, it was where I started first grade and not having any friends just my siblings that kept me company and played with me.  Then something happened that I will never, ever forget I met the woman who played a very crucial part in who I am today.  My angel, Hope Pomeroy, she was in her 80’s and yet she reached out to me and made me feel accepted and valued.  She spent time with just me, which as the youngest of 6 kids was a dream come true.  She would read to me and pray with me.  Even after we moved from that town, she would write me letters to encourage me.  It may not seem like a big deal to you, but to the little girl still inside me it will always mean the world to me that she took the time to feed into my life.  

I have tried to do that when I was mentoring young women.  But today I had a sense that I need to make sure those around me on a daily basis feel that they matter to me and that I value them.  I want them to know there is someone cheering them on.

Insight for today: Make an effort to let those around me know their value and that I got their back.