As a mother, I set the tone for my home. I try to keep the mood upbeat and positive. I am always cheering on my husband’s work at the office, my eldest’s latest foray into jazz, or my youngest’s first days at his new school.
“I know you can do it! I’m so proud of you!”
I sometimes sound like a mother in a television sitcom. “I’m proud of you already!”
I should buy some pompoms.
But if I am being honest, sometimes I am tired of being everyone’s cheerleader. My cheerleading isn’t disingenuous. I am an encourager; that’s one of my gifts. It’s just that I wish someone were cheering for me.
This is why a quote from Vinita Hampton Wright’s 2025: A Book of Grace-Filled Days stopped me in my tracks. “Do you generally think of God of the Universe as being for you? I hope so. I hope it occurs to you at least once a day that the Creator of all is on your side, is rooting for you to do well and grow in wisdom and in grace.”
The answer to this question for me was no. I don’t think of God cheering me on.
Of course, God is rooting for me! He created me and loves me. God does not abandon his creation. He wants me to become the woman he created me to be.
In the Book of Romans, St. Paul says, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?” (8:31–32)
The God of the Universe is for me!
If I listen as I pray, read God’s Word, and participate in the sacraments, I realize God is there prompting me, encouraging me, guiding me, and rooting for me. He does this in specific ways for each of us, based on our own needs, desires, interests, and gifts. God creates us, so he knows us better than we know ourselves.
This reframing changes everything. When I know God is rooting for me, I don’t need anyone else to. Being my family’s cheerleader is no longer fueled by me but by God. God knows I am an encourager. This is the specific gift he has given me. And when I think of God as the source and the fuel behind all my encouraging, I don’t fizzle out.
Living in this truth, that the Creator of the Universe is cheering me on, fills me. It makes rooting for others—especially those who have not noticed our God’s gentle encouragement—easy. His love and encouragement overflows from my heart to others.
So, I take out my pompoms and ask you, God’s dear one, Do you know that the God of the Universe is for you? God has given you so many precious talents and gifts and is molding and guiding you patiently, so that you can be the wonderful you that he created you to be.
Yes, I believe God is for me. I believe God blesses everyone, however it seems God has blessed me.partularly. I also be blessed is an action verb. I am called to make a difference.