You know that point in quarantine when we were dreaming of the day we would actually see people again? The day we’d run in the street and hug and wouldn’t have to live behind screens forever? The day I got a glimpse of that is one I’ll never forget.

My dearest friend Sophie came to stay with me for a weekend in Dallas this past June, and I was so jazzed to see her that I stood in the street outside the apartment waiting for her to pull up. The exact millisecond she opened her car door I flew across the street, and we shared what might be the world’s longest and most dramatic hug. It was, to date, one of the happiest moments of my life. 

After catching up on all of the things and frozen pizza and dancing all around the apartment, we went on the most magical two-hour walk as the sun rose the next day. The sunshine and blue skies were perfect, and just being together again felt like Christmas morning. Something out of the ordinary happened on this walk, though. Something Sophie and I still talk about as a holy moment, and I’m thrilled to be sharing it with you today. 

As we approached a stoplight on the front end of our walk, a tall man passed us on the right side. He looked familiar, and I was positive that I knew him. But before I could turn around, the most adorable girl followed after him. My jaw dropped. I definitely knew her. It couldn’t be. Oh. Em. Gee. This was THE Brighton Keller Butler, one of our favorite bloggers of all time, and her husband, Duncan (shameless plug to go check out her blog and Instagram account—they rock). 

My jaw dropped. I didn’t have the words to even say hi—I was that starstruck. Sophie and I looked at each other, looked back at them, and by that time they were gone. Poof. It happened in the blink of an eye. We were left saying, “Did that even just happen?! Was that real?! They live in Colorado, what were they doing in Dallas?!” 

The moment passed, and our weekend went on (although we replayed that moment all day long and just couldn’t believe we had seen her in! person!). But what carried with me was this strong sense that I needed to reach out to her.

She’s the most stylish and energetic fashion blogger around, but what she shares about her life as a woman of God is of the most interest and importance to me. She had been posting about her journey with racial reconciliation and how she was processing everything. Her vulnerability and kindheartedness were beyond admirable, and she also shared that she felt discouraged and overwhelmed with all of it.

I quickly realized a few things. One: the feeling to reach out to her? Not random. That’s the Holy Spirit. Two: I have the gift of encouragement and have felt these nudges and promptings my entire life. This was not random. Three: godly encouragement comes from the Holy Spirit. It was all adding up. 

A few days later I sent her an email encouraging her and explaining that Sophie and I had crossed paths with her. It was 100% guided by the Spirit and there was an urgency attached to it. Part of me felt weird, but the faithful part of me knew this needed to happen (encouragement is like that sometimes—our flesh will try to tell us we are weird or crazy or too much. But we are not. We are simply acting out of faith and obedience). I typed up that email and sent it off on a Tuesday afternoon. I was not expecting what followed. 

I’m going to preface this with it’s really not that big of a deal. But again, if you follow any big-time bloggers—you get this. They are small-scale celebrities and it is just cool to get any kind of personal interaction with them. After I sent Brighton the email, I never expected a reply. She gets hundreds of emails and DM’s, so I wasn’t planning on getting a personal response. 

But a few days later Brighton’s husband followed me on Instagram. Mind you, she’s never shared his account before and he is very private. And mind you—he followed me! What! Not only did he follow me, but he sent me an encouraging message from the both of them. “Thanks for encouraging my little lady! Keep leaning in with that good heart of yours.”

After I freaked out for a few minutes (my roommate can attest to that—she thought I landed an internship with my [maybe unhealthy] level of excitement), I thought about those words again. Keep leaning in with that good heart of yours. Hm. 

He didn’t know me. She didn’t know me. But there’s something that happens when we use our words for the Kingdom of God. People notice. People can tell. They didn’t know much about my life, but they somehow knew the words were coming from a place of love and faithfulness. I didn’t know exactly what she needed to hear or why God was so clearly prompting me to encourage her, but it’s not about me knowing. It’s about me being faithful. The gift of encouragement is such a blessing and simultaneously such a constant challenge to surrender power and control and having to know every single detail and reason for every single thing. 

Walking in the Spirit is a funny thing. It requires a lot of trust, and trust requires that we know the person we’re trusting. We can’t trust God if we don’t know Him. And if we don’t know what walking in the Spirit entails—or that our flesh will try to keep us from doing the things we want to do, as Galatians 5:16-18 shares—we will be too scared or distracted to lean into what God wants us to do. 

Sometimes the Holy Spirit will put something on our hearts, and it’s not a matter of us figuring out every detail or what will happen or why we need to listen. It’s also not a matter of us rationalizing our behavior and what other people will think about it. It’s a simple yes or no: will we obey Him? If no, okay, fine. If yes, He will take care of the rest. We just have to obey. I’ve witnessed so many times that God doesn’t randomly call us to encourage or reach out to someone. If we’re walking in the Spirit and are open to what He wants us to do, He only uses that for good. 

I’ve also been on the receiving end of encouragement, and so many times I’ve stopped dead in my tracks and thought, “that came straight from the Lord.” God knows what we need when we need it. And if we are willing to serve in His Kingdom, our faithfulness and fruit will only be used for good. 

Who doesn’t need a little encouragement these days? It can take a step of faith and getting over ourselves or what people may think about us, but when we are taking every single step with God, He will never, ever lead us astray. And when He prompts you, as my friend Duncan encouraged me—keep leaning in with that good heart of yours.