What’s true of children is true of all God’s people. Good leadership balances the tender nurturing of a mother with the loving affirmation of a father. Encouragement is like an oasis in the desert. It brings needed refreshment to weary individuals whose souls are parched from time spent in the desert of self-doubt. There’s also the desert of failure when we’ve tried so hard to succeed and the desert of no progress when we so wanted something to happen. And there’s the desert of family rejection, abuse, and a thousand other arid, barren landscapes of life.
