Oh, Our Words...

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."   ... Proverbs 18:21

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Yesterday. More rain, more grey skies--and back here--grey skies are not interesting or beautiful. They're like staring at a grey bed sheet for hours. Mind-numbing dull.

Though it was still dark out there, the rain finally stopped and I decided to transplant some radishes into the side flower bed. I would not, I thought, mow the lawn, even though it desperately needed it, even though I always mow on Fridays to keep the weekend more work-free, for the lawn was sopping wet, I'd not slept well this week and I've had rare makes-me-cranky-and-tired allergies.

Anyway, as I knelt beside the flower bed, a woman around my age came along with her dog. She stopped and said she always enjoys walking past our yard because of how pretty it looks while noticing the new things I've planted. We chatted for awhile about my stand of daylilies and how they'd been wimpy-looking when we moved here, but now they're incredibly-strong and tall. She said other kind things, I thanked her, then she and her dog moved on.

And you know? I gazed around the yard and saw the tall grass and wind-downed leaves, twigs and candy wrappers (we're on the corner, after all) and suddenly tired ol' Debra felt infused with new strength to mow the whole entire lawn, front, back, side(!) It again became important to me that our yard provide a pleasant viewing-experience for not only that woman, but for other walkers and neighbors, as well.

Twenty minutes later, after picking up twigs and then mowing, everything looked, well, kinda sweet, if I do say so myself.

Wow. If I wasn't convinced decades ago about the power of words, yesterday's kind words would have done it. Anything that nudges ol' Debra to mow a soggy lawn on a dark day without spending previous hours getting psyched-up for it, is about as powerful as it gets.  :)


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Proverbs 15:4...   A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

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"By your smile you can change another's life,
By a word you can bring peace out of strife; 
Then lift your head and never say die; 
Count every blessing, stop every sigh. 
Get busy...don't let a chance slip by 
  For the world has need of you."   ... From a poem by Evelyn Whitell