Friday, July 5

"words"

words.
the right ones,
spoken in kindness,
can make someone's day.

jan's husband got me to the
amtrak station at 5:45 this
morning.  because taylor is
doing this photo shoot for
national distribution  of
"seduced by success", i
had to bring various outfits.

i had my purse and a puma bag
over one shoulder..and a giant,
$1 marshall's bag stuffed with
special camera and tripod and
mucho clothes...in my right
hand.  waiting for a cart to take
me a mile away to my train,
a beautiful, black woman came
and waited next to me.

"oh, i love your top!" she said.
my eyes widened.  sparkling.

"thank you!" i replied.

"oh, and i love that braid
in your hair.  i'm a beautitcian, 
so i notice things like that!"

i'm not an early morning
person, and my bad foot
makes standing so painful.
but my heart nearly stopped.
one of my favorite missions
is to speak beauty to others,
and God had actually sent
a stranger to do that for me!

"my name is ann.  you know,
words are so  powerful.  they
can instantly change someone's
day...for good or for bad.  thank
you for such kind words.  i
didn't feel very special until
you spoke to me."

my eyes became liquid pools
of gratitude and joy.

"i'm on my way to my brother's
funeral in los angeles..."

"oh, that makes me sad.
was his death sudden?"

"he died of liver cancer."
her beautiful grandbaby was 
in her arms.  assuring her that
i would be praying...that i was
so thankful we had Jesus in
these moments of our lives...
i got on the cart, and was
whisked away.

the Bible says so much about
words.  one of my favorites is:
"a gentle word turns away wrath."

no matter what lovely things
we think about someone, they are
worthless unless we speak
them.  it is a free gift we can
give every day.  above all
others, speak beauty to your
children.

beautiful words.
wrap your children in them.
paint them across the sky.
speak them in the grocery store.
at the dry cleaners. to the
cashier at the bank.

all day,
i thought of those lovely
words spoken to me. i chewed
on them. rolled them around
in my brain.  snuggled into
the warmth they brought me.

and every single comment
you post to me is like glistening,
fresh rain on a brutally-hot day.
thank you so much for taking
time to speak love to me.

3 comments:

  1. This post really spoke to me as I'm surrounded by my 4 small children, tired. I know I don't always speak the right words to give life, but I want to... today.

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  2. She spoke these kind words while on the way to her brother's funeral!
    It is a good reminder to always speak kindness to others, no matter what
    I'm going through.
    My husband and I were out walking around our town for exercise, and a
    woman passing us said to my husband, "Your wife is really beautiful."
    I wasn't feeling even a little pretty. What a blessing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom rocks. Glad you got some time with Jan. I know you both needed it. Y'all are still in my prayers.

    ReplyDelete