I am inspired most when I know people expect the best out of me. As an employee, the most inspiring thing my supervisor does is to challenge me, then to believe in me! In my marriage, my husband, Robert, is a wonderful and loving "cheerleader" for my projects and dreams.
As a teenager, I had the wonderful privilege of being a part of a church youth group that was anything but mediocre! Our youth pastor, Larry Bone, challenged us at every meeting, every outing, every conversation. He totally expected us to use our talents in the church and in the youth group. Yet, he was not a dictator holding out an expectation that was impossible to reach or impossible to understand. Larry helped me find my talent, which was not musical talent. I will be forever grateful that he did not allow me to "slip through the cracks" but was willing to invest the time to instill in me the desire to plug myself into the group, into life. I thought I needed to be in the singing group to be useful and I wanted to be in the singing group to be noticed! :-) But...alas, I have no musical talent...but I did not know that then! Larry Bone helped me realize that my talents were somewhere else. I liked to help organize and I still love organizing things and events. He encouraged my writing for the youth group newspaper and I became the "editor" and I still very much enjoy writing and written communication. I was an accomplished seamstress even as a young teenager (thanks Mom!), and Larry let me use that talent in "desigining" choir dresses for the youth group girls, and then also within the smaller singing group in picking out fabric for some of their outfits.
It is SO worth inspiring others - - - in ways that matter, in ways that truly inspire!
Yvonne White
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