“And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!”

Last week I wrote of how we are missing validation and approvals by being out of the office and only interacting online in very episodic ways from one Zoom call to another.  That hit a nerve and more people are feeling this loss than I even thought.  We can fix that by being deliberate in follow ups after meetings with a text, a call, an email or even think of creating a slack channel #jobwelldone and be sure that the stream is always full.  We are going to need to continue to be on the lookout for the small gaps in how we used to work can get filled so they don’t become large unintended consequences that create longer term problems.

While we know we are to look to God for our approval, let’s really try to carry that through to those who may not have God to lean upon or who need more from those around them.  In crisis our weaknesses and vulnerabilities get magnified and when we see those who are out of sorts or just not themselves, let’s be the first one to cheer them up and maybe give them the approval and validation that they are missing.  We can do that.  One, “You are awesome at what you do” can change the trajectory of a day and possibly even a life.

Reference: Psalm 90:17 (New Living Translation)