Challenge or Encourage
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Last week, my husband and I attended an event for some friends of ours who are missionaries in Prague. Before we heard about their work there, we were encouraged to think back to college and a professor who had an impact on us. As a few of us shared our answers, I was interested to note that responses largely fell into two categories: professors who challenged or professors who encouraged.
One attendee shared that his college English professor had challenged him to broaden his curiosity. He was told that he would be a better English student if he knew the history, the art, the other cultural influences that were going on outside the pages of the books he was reading.
I shared that my college ceramics professor made me feel safe to do something I’d never done and encouraged me to keep going even if I wasn’t ever going to be a great (or even good) ceramicist. Her classes were the first time I learned I could 1) make something with my hands and 2) do something because I enjoyed it, not because I was good at it.
What adults shaped your own life experience? Did they challenge you? encourage you? something else?
Perhaps we all need a blend of encouragement and challenge, but I find I can receive and hear a challenge best when I’m with someone who makes me feel safe. If I’m challenged by someone I don’t know well, I’m likely to become defensive and/or brush off their challenge. But if I’m with someone who makes me feel seen and known, I can hear a healthy challenge for what it is: opportunity to grow, not critique of who I am as a person.
I’m personally more encourager than challenger. I’m more likely to see and name the good things I see in someone than to call out a place they could be better. Perhaps this is how I’m made, perhaps it is weakness.
How do you receive challenges? How do you receive encouragement? Which are you more likely to offer those in your life?
I wonder if my inclination to encouragement is what makes me a good spiritual director. I love the opportunity to sit with people and affirm their experiences of God. Nothing is too weird for a direction session. Noticing God in everything from a ladybug to a cardinal to a river is not only valid, but valued. My directees never need to preface their experience with the phrase “this may sound weird, but…”
That’s not to say I don’t gently challenge when the Spirit prompts me to do so. This is especially true when I hear someone say something about themselves in a harsh tone. That might prompt me to ask whose voice that is — “Where’s that coming from?” If there is one thing I long to challenge, it’s the notion that God judges more than loves.
What blend of challenging and encouraging shows up in your day to day life? How is this a reflection of your own experiences and inclinations?
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Book Corner:
What I’ve Been Reading Lately
via library loan:
The Fountain by Casey Scieszka
Tuck Everlasting for grown-ups: If you’ve ever sat around a fire talking about what you’d do if you could live forever, this is the book for you. Vera and Eli are siblings who have lived for two hundred years. Eventually they each head back to their hometown and run into each other. It’s interesting to view history through their eyes but my favorite scene was the one where Eli realizes that two centuries as a woman is a different story than two decades as a man. This book is engaging, easy to read and a testament to the value of mortality.
Into the Blue by Emma Brodie
There’s a lot I liked about this book. AJ and Noah felt like a couple I could root for and their chemistry felt authentic. The behind the scenes look at two young adults finding acting made for good reading. I also liked that this book dealt with questions we don’t typically ask about whether it’s better to live a life we’ve planned that minimizes pain or a life that’s beautifully unpredictable. Here’s the rub: I wanted more depth in how the author addressed the way a couple deals with a terminal, degenerative disease diagnosis. A few sentences on the very last page did not satisfy me that they were actually working through this as a couple. All that being said, this is two books in a row that have made me think about and value the brief and glorious truth of how short our lives really are. May we live them fully.
And what I’ve been watching:
The Pitt, Season One, HBO
My daughter’s friend signed into her HBO account on our Roku, so I’m using that as an opportunity to binge this series I've heard so much about. Last week I watched the entire first season, mostly because I could not stop with each episode leaving me hanging. I completely understand the praise for this show. What a moving look at the weight of being a doctor, a nurse or anyone who cares for others vocationally.
I Will Find You, Netflix
I found this on a list of the best shows to watch this summer, but couldn’t make it through one episode. I’m good at suspending disbelief, but this was a bridge too far. I used to find Netflix originals pretty good — is it me or has the quality seriously degraded?
Five Star Weekend, Peacock
This series was also on that list of best summer shows I found and it’s far better than I Will Find You. It’s the antithesis of The Pitt because it’s pure fluff. Based on an Elin Hildebrand novel, it’s set on Nantucket and the soundtrack alone is evidence that I am the target audience. I’m using it as a palate cleanser between seasons one and two of The Pitt.
Take a moment to pause here:
Where do you feel God encouraging you on your path right now? Who is God using to provide that encouragement?
Where do you feel God challenging you to grow or change? Who is God using to show you that?
May we have sensitivity to giving and receiving challenge and encouragement.
Peace & Grace,
Shannon