I was at Playfront Park with my kids pushing them on the swings.  I did that often especially when they were little and I’m not sure who had more fun, them or me.  Sometimes when we would be there I would see mothers sitting on benches, taking much earned breaks laughing and talking. Their toddlers sat on the swings, wanting someone to push them.  I would give them a push.  Do you know what happens when you push a kid on a swing?   Pretty soon he’s pumping, doing it himself.  That is a good metaphor to what we do as Kiwanians.  To encourage and to offer the assistance of a little push to get a kid started. 

Encouraging others along in life—that’s a worthy purpose. Joses, a godly man mentioned in the book of Acts, had that gift as well. In the days of the early church, he sold some land and gave the money to the church to use for the less fortunate.  

You may know Joses as "Barnabas," which is the name the apostles gave to the "Son of Encouragement."  When the Jerusalem church heard that people in Antioch were coming to know Jesus as Savior, they sent Barnabas because "he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith".  He "encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord".