A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
Proverbs 25:11
Some days are harder than others.
Some seasons of life are harder than others.
I try to put on a smile and keep my hard days and hard seasons to those close to me as I've never been one to hang out my dirty laundry for all to see. But in the midst of potty training our newly adopted son, I had a lot more dirty laundry than one mama could bear. The potty training also gave me daily doses of dirty toilets, dirty floors, dirty mattresses, dirty hands... you get the idea.
This was my 8th go-round of potty training. Yeah, I should be so experienced that I could write a book on it. (And if I did, it would have one chapter, one page, one sentence: Wait until they're ready.) But for some reason this round of toilet training was bringing out things in me I didn't know were there. And they were dirty, too.
I was overwhelmed, short on patience... I was struggling. After 15 years of having kids in diapers, I went from thinking I was finally done with the waste management of others to being thrown deep in the trenches (pun intended). And it all happened overnight.
So maybe I wasn't wearing this season of struggle particularly well. Maybe others could see the exhaustion in my eyes. Or maybe, because God knew He sent an angel of encouragement to me at just the right moment- right in the midst of the hard and ugly. Whether she saw it in my eyes, or the Father put it in her heart, I'll count it as a divine appointment.
I had my new little guy at the post office. We were going in and she was going out. But before she put the exit door between her and us, she looked back at me and asked, "Is he yours?" My son is black and I'm white, so was a fair question but I shrank back as I answered, "Yes", not knowing why she was asking.
With compassion and intentionality, she looked straight into my tired eyes, and said, " God's gonna bless you for that."
And with that, my big brown eyes were brimming with tears.
"Excuse me?", I managed in reply.
"God's gonna bless you. He will. Just hang in there. You hear me?"
Tears escaped. I thanked. She left. And I'm sure I saw wings flash as she rounded the corner to the parking lot.
I left encouraged and full of hope, ready to tackle whatever dirty came my way. All because someone, mortal or angelic, chose to slow down and cast some uplifting words my way.
That's the Power of Words.
