Small Acts of Kindness: The Words of a Friend

by | Aug 28, 2017 | Author news | 8 comments

By Kathy Cheek

Through the kindness and support of a friend,
I was moved from discouragement to a place of renewed hope.

Anyone who writes knows there are more rejections, more closed doors, more difficult challenges than there are yeses and contracts.

Some of those rejections hurt more than others and sometimes it is hard to get back on the bicycle or horse, so to speak.

It is a lot more fun to share good news with friends and family than the times we are rejected, especially when everyone knows how much you wanted to hear yes. Not, we are declining…

So, recently when I was rejected by an agent and a publisher in the same week, I was feeling pretty down, until I received an email from a friend I would describe as soft spoken.

Well, she wasn’t soft spoken in this email. If you could be loud in an email, she was loud. She was loudly proclaiming her support of my writing and telling me not to give up in such a forceful encouraging way, I was moved from my place of discouragement to a place of renewed hope.

Her uplifting words made a difference and urged me on. She will never know how much her kindness and support meant to me in those days as I read her email over and over—finding the courage in her words to believe there is a plan and I need to keep working.

I want to live up to her challenge and not give up.

I also want to be the friend to others that she was to me, and I hope I can do that with kindness and support—as she did for me.

Kathy Cheek writes faith-filled devotions and is published in LifeWay’s Journey magazine and Mature Living, and also contributes to several devotional sites, including Thoughts About God, Christian Devotions, and CBN.com.

Her favorite subject to write about is the rich relationship God desires to have with us and the deep trust it takes to live it out. She and her husband of 33 years live in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas and they have two daughters and one son-in-law who also reside in the Dallas area. You can read more of her devotions at www.kathycheek.com.

Author

  • Jennifer Hallmark

    Jennifer Hallmark writes Southern fiction with a twist. Her website and newsletter focus on her books, love of the South, and favorite fiction. She creates stories with unforgettable characters—her stories are a little eerie and otherworldly but with a positive turn. Jessie’s Hope, her first novel, was a Selah Award nominee for First Novel. Her latest novel, Smoking Flax, was released on January 16th, 2024. When she isn’t babysitting, gardening, or exploring the beautiful state of Alabama, you can find her at her desk penning fiction or studying the craft of writing. She also loves reading and streaming fantasy, supernatural stories, and detective fiction from the Golden Age or her favorite subject—time travel.

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8 Comments

  1. Sandra Ardoin
    Sandra Ardoin on August 28, 2017 at 7:31 am

    I’ve found that when bad writing news arrives, it’s usually followed later by something encouraging to keep me going. God is good at that! 🙂

  2. angelajamison
    angelajamison on August 28, 2017 at 9:12 am

    Sometimes we shy away from being boisterous in our encouragement and this is a great reminder to do it anyway! You never know how your words will deeply affect someone. Thank you for sharing!

  3. juliezcoleman
    juliezcoleman on August 28, 2017 at 9:19 am

    Lovely post– and an encouragement to us all to build each other up. Kind words can be the thing that keeps us going. (And may I add– rejection is most certainly part of a writing career. Just keep doing the next thing. If God has called you to it, He will be faithful to use your gift to build up the Church. Hang in there!!)

  4. realmojo68
    realmojo68 on August 28, 2017 at 10:19 am

    The best friends are the ones who authentically build us up and encourage us, not out of false obligation, but from true respect.

  5. Carla
    Carla on August 28, 2017 at 11:17 am

    We all need an encourager in our lives. Great you have such a good friend.

  6. Penny Cooke
    Penny Cooke on August 28, 2017 at 9:32 pm

    That is so wonderful what she did for you. Our friends have no idea the encouragement that is needed on the writing journey. I pray God blesses your writing and all who read it!