What encourages you?

I love Christian music, especially ones that you can tell have a lot of thought put into, tells a story or gives you courage (like this one). I guess that's why hymns are my favorite, and I like those books of stories behind the hymn, they're kinda like a biography. That leads right to me liking biographies, too. It's so interesting to see how other Christians handle trials that can either just trickle irritatingly through our life or even consume us. I try to keep that in mind when I'm trying to handle something unpleasant, someone may be reading me like a book, an unwilling example of how to deal, and being thankful for it to boot (Eph.5:20), because He uses it to mold us. I often looked for inspirational examples in the Christian History magazine on line, but I can't find it nowadays, so I may subscribe to the hard copy.
I think the biggest book I read was The Parish Papers by George MacDonald. A good read on the trials of a new preacher in an unfamiliar land, and learning to trust God's timing, among other things.
I saw this grave marker at Holyrood while in Scotland this year from 1849 of a 17 yr old girl and it made me re-think about how we should view the biggest trial we'll all face. I promise not to get all morbid on you, just a quick mention. It says "Take comfort Christians when your friends in Jesus fall asleep, their better being never ends, why then dejected weep"
Most of my entries may be of a reflective nature, but also sort of eclectic. So if this entry didn't interest you, keep checking back and feel free to jump in and let me know some of your thoughts, experiences and favorites too. Got an example of a trial and how it helped you learn to trust God, or how it helped someone else more? Or leave me a link that you think is really neat.