Our church sponsored a Sweetheart Dance on Valentine's Day. One gentleman who attended by himself was quite interesting to listen to and share thoughts with. His appearance was non-descript; the type of person one would rarely give a thought about had they seen him on the street ~ he looked to be a bit shabby and weatherworn, if I am going to share cultural truth (e.g. what we as a culture would label him)...but his heart, oh, his heart was genuine and kind.
As we were wrapping up the evening, we were talking about the changes in our culture with respect to speaking and self-promotion. He told me that someone had once share some words with him that he tried to keep in mind whenever interacting with others. What he shared was so easy to remember, yet poignant to consider, that I went home and wrote it down. I wanted to share with those who stop in...
Before we speak to others we must stop and THINK....
Is what we are saying...
Truthful (or is it partially true, and partially our own embelleshment)
Helpful (can this exhort or support the person we are speaking with)
Inspiring (will what we have to say provide encouragement or refreshment)
Necessary (speaks for itself)
Kind (or is it self-serving)
Wow ~ thank you, dear gentleman whose name I cannot recall ~ for your thoughtful words of wisdom. If only we would all consider these things prior to opening our mouths. What a wonderful world it could be. I pray that God put a bit in my mouth, and a hand upon my heart at all times. May He restrain my thoughts, which tend to race in eagerness because I love to share and interact and discuss things...and may He guide and direct my words to be pleasing to our Lord.
As for God, His way is perfect (Psalm 18:30)
This Blog is written as a thought sharing portion of my own personal journey with God, as I seek to allow "Christie" to be transformed more and more into "Christ's".
Something to Consider
What I Am Doing Here
I am currently on a quest to understand what God's incredible love for me means in relation to my life and my every thought and action. I desire to know Him more intimately. The past several years I have experienced many challenges. They have all served to bring me into a deeper knowing of myself and how helpless I am without my King. I daily pray to grow closer to God, and reflect His light to all whom I meet. My heart longs to be able to explain the majesty that compels my love...I wish everyone would one day be blessed by experiencing the grace of God, and the incredible joy that arises from gratefully recieving His love.
3 comments:
It is so awesome that you remembered that conversation or had the thought to write down what he said.
The man's name is Paul Wiley. I remember it because he shares his name with a former Olympic ice skater.
Behind all of his whiskers, I thought he looked like Sean Connery. I even told him that.
He was a nice guy just looking for someone to talk to. I'm glad he found our event that night.
My dear blogging friend,
Although I don't know you by your face, I do know a heart that touches mine with its kindness. Your words to me are always uplifting, and you don't know how many times your comments on my blog have encouraged my day. Thank you for sharing, and for allowing God to use you in others lives!
Stacy,
What a blessing it is to me to hear that you are uplifted by the privelege and joy I recieve when reading your posts! God is good, Amen?! :-)
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