ENCOURAGEMENT YOU CAN TASTE AND SEE

By Rev. Dr. Thomas Ahlersmeyer

A dear and faithful “Worship Anew” viewer who clearly embodies God’s gift of encouragement is Ruth Haak.

When I walked into the modest Chicago-area home that Ruth has shared with her brother Chuck, a retired Lutheran teacher, since the 1970s, I quickly discovered a life shaped by faith.

Crosses hung on the walls. Paintings and photos reminded visitors of Christ’s promises. Family memories and church traditions were woven into nearly every corner. For Ruth, faith has never been reserved for Sunday morning. It is meant to be lived — and shared — with others.

“It started with Sunday School,” she recalls warmly. “We always went to church as a family.”

Her father served as a church elder. He also had the wonderful job of ringing the old-fashioned church bell — the kind with a big, heavy rope.

“He loved it,” Ruth recalls. “He would always say that sometimes he rang it just a little longer, hoping to wake up anyone who might still be sleeping and remind them that it was Sunday morning and time for church.”

Her father worked two jobs to make Lutheran education possible for all four children, while her mother was deeply involved in church and school activities. Sundays centered on worship, family meals, and gratitude for God’s gifts. Those simple rhythms of faith and family left Ruth with memories she continues to treasure.

Those rhythms shaped Ruth for life and helped cultivate her remarkable gift for encouraging others.

A Ministry of Encouragement

Over the years, Ruth worked for Hartford Insurance, beginning while she was still in high school. She also became involved in creative church ministries, including clown ministry and designing scenery for Vacation Bible School and Sunday School.

Known as “Sparkles,” she played the playful, goofy character who brought smiles to children and adults alike.

But perhaps her most enduring ministry has come through something much simpler: paper, glue, ribbon, stamps, and handwritten words.

Ruth is known among pastors and church workers for her handmade cards — sent for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, confirmations, illnesses, and any occasion when someone might need encouragement. She once sent me a birthday card that, to my amazement and delight, released tiny butterflies when I opened it, creating a little burst of joy that I still remember with gratitude.

“I don’t want anybody to have a birthday or occasion and not have anyone remember them,” she said.

That sentence captures Ruth’s ministry: She remembers people.

Remembering someone is one of the simplest and most powerful ways of saying, You matter. You are not forgotten. Someone cares.

This God-inspired practice began when Ruth’s pastor made a point of mailing birthday and anniversary cards to everyone in the congregation. Ruth helped make that ministry easier by setting up a computer program for him and training him to use it. When he retired and a new pastor arrived, Ruth did the same for his successor, so he could continue sending the cards.

When that pastor eventually retired, Ruth took the ministry into her own hands, continuing to make and send the cards, this time with her signature. What began as a way of helping her pastors became a personal ministry of encouragement that Ruth continues to make her own.

Encouraging Those Who Encourage Others

Ruth has a particular heart for pastors and church workers.

Pastors carry enormous emotional burdens — celebrating Baptisms and weddings one day while walking with families through hospital rooms, crises, and funerals the next. Ruth understands that reality.

“People don’t take the time to say an encouraging ‘thank you,’” she observes. “You’re on 24-hour call. That has to be a lot for a human being to deal with.”

So, Ruth does something about it. She remembers. She writes. She sends cards. She prays. She bakes. In other words, she encourages.

Her email address even includes the moniker “cookiebakngal” — a fitting glimpse into someone whose encouragement often comes with something homemade and sweet.

For Ruth, baking is another way of saying, “I thought of you. I wanted to do something for you. I hope this brings you a little joy.”

She and her mother once baked cookies to help fund outdoor education for children, and church gatherings frequently benefited from her baking. Serving others became second nature.

That servant-hearted faith was tested through difficult seasons. Ruth helped care for her mother following a leg amputation, preparing meals and arranging care before commuting downtown for work. She and Chuck also helped care for their sister during cancer treatments. Ruth knows that encouragement isn’t merely something we offer when life is going well. Often, encouragement means showing up when life is hard — preparing a meal, making a phone call, sending a card, baking cookies, or simply remembering someone’s name.

When Ruth Needed Encouragement

One especially painful chapter came when Ruth’s longtime congregation, Nazareth Lutheran Church, closed several years ago. Like many Christians who can no longer easily attend worship in person, Ruth faced a deep sense of isolation.

Then came an unexpected gift.

Chuck, her brother, discovered “Worship Anew” while researching livestreaming ministry for his own congregation. Soon, Ruth began regularly worshiping through the broadcasts.

“If it wasn’t for that,” she said, “I wouldn’t have weekly ‘church.’”

Now worship services, hymns, and sermons from “Worship Anew” and other Lutheran churches across the country fill her home each week. She speaks warmly about many of the pastors she watches. Their preaching reminds her that Christ continues to speak hope and encouragement to His people wherever they may be.

There is something especially beautiful about that: The encourager becomes the encouraged. The woman who has spent years reminding others that they are remembered and loved now receives that same reminder through “Worship Anew.”

Encouragement Matters

During Pastor Appreciation Month this October, Ruth’s story offers an important reminder: encouragement matters.

A handwritten note matters. A remembered birthday matters. A homemade card matters. A batch of cookies matters. A simple “thank you” matters.

These may seem like small things, but God often uses small things to accomplish His gracious purposes. A few handwritten words can lift a weary heart. A phone call can interrupt loneliness. A thoughtful gift can remind someone that he or she has not been forgotten.

When asked what she hopes pastors remember about homebound worshipers, Ruth answers simply: “Talk to us in common terms. Talk about everyday life. Help people understand God’s love where they live.”

That is exactly what Ruth has been doing all these years.

She has taken God’s love and put it into everyday things — cards, cookies, conversations, prayers, creativity, hospitality, and simple acts of remembrance.

Through them all, she has quietly proclaimed a profound Gospel truth: You are seen. You are remembered. You matter. You are forgiven and loved by the crucified and risen Christ.

And that, after all, is what Christian encouragement is really about.

How can you support a pastor or a “Ruth” in your life?

Who has been a “Ruth” in your life — someone whose simple words or acts of kindness reminded you that you were seen, remembered, and loved by Christ? How might you thank or encourage that person?

Ruth discovered that encouragement can take very simple forms — cards, cookies, prayers, phone calls, and remembering important occasions. What simple act of encouragement could God use through you this week?

Ruth’s congregation closed, leaving her feeling isolated, yet God used “Worship Anew” to remind her that she was not alone. When have you experienced God bringing encouragement into your life during a difficult or lonely season?

Romans 12 calls encouragement a gift God gives His people. Where do you see opportunities in your family, congregation, workplace, or neighborhood to “devote yourself to giving encouragement”? What might that look like in practice?

A Prayer for the Encourager

O encouraging heavenly Father, I thank You for the people and opportunities You place in my life to encourage me and, through me, to encourage others. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear those who need encouragement, and a heart that remembers those who have encouraged me. What a Friend I have in You, Lord Jesus … a Friend who walks beside me through life’s trials, temptations, and troubles, meeting me when I am weary or alone with strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Keep me anchored in Your promises and make me a faithful encourager who reflects Your love to others. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Thomas Ahlersmeyer is a regular pastor on “Worship Anew” and serves as the pastor at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Above photo provided by Ruth Haak: Ruth Haak makes and delivers cards to her pastors.