DaySpring marks day of encouragement

DaySpring is celebrating the National Day of Encouragement--Sept. 12--by giving away a half-million encouragement cards the week of Sept. 6.

Active DaySpring retailers have received a supply of the free encouragement cards-appropriate for all ages-to give away to their customers. The scripture on the card comes from Gen. 12:2: "I will bless you...and you will be a blessing." The message inside is: "I'm so thankful that one of the many lives you've touched is mine. I pray God multiplies back to you the blessing you are, many times over."

DaySpring--whose vision statement is "connecting people with the heart of God through messages of hope and encouragement, every day, everywhere,"--recently introduced 116 new hope and encouragement cards in its everyday card line. The cards, which arrived in stores in July and August, were written in response to prayer requests on the company's encouragement-focused Web site, www.incourage.me. The cards feature more than a dozen new captions, including mom-to-mom, coping with cancer, depression, difficult relationship, job stress and military service.

The National Day of Encouragement began with students at a Leadership Conference in Searcy, Ark., and was established in June 2007. Feeling that every problem their generation faced stemmed from discouragement, the high-schoolers decided to set aside one day each year for "a day when people of all ages and backgrounds would use encouragement to bring light to a discouraged world." The date was later changed to Sept. 12 in honor of 9/11, with former President George W. Bush acknowledging Sept. 12 as the National Day of Encouragement.