It was a beautiful smile.
You know, one of those brief moments when the fleshly façade is wiped
away and you get a brief glimpse directly into someone’s soul. There was gratitude to be sure and joy as well but there was a tint of something else, surprise or shock even. What really amazed me was the small traces
of water that welled up in the corner of his eyes. Men don’t do that and they definitely don’t do
that here.
Earlier this week, I bumped into one of my old ESL students. We stood on a busy corner, talking about his
life, his family, what’s going on at work, future plans and the like. Suddenly it struck me, he was speaking so
well! His English flowed, the vocabulary
was strong, only a couple of grammatical mistakes, and we understood
completely. I was a bit proud but honestly
my friend had done all the work to improve his language skills and it was
evident. I stopped, slapped him on the
back and said, “Wow! Your English is
really good. I can tell you’ve been
studying and practicing.” His response
was priceless. No, it was beautiful.
I’ve been thinking about that exchange the last couple of
days. It took nothing, just a few positive
words, one brief conversation, to encourage my friend-to brighten his
day. I wonder how many opportunities lately
I have missed to do the same for others? What
a great reminder to speak love, to encourage, to be Jesus to those around
us. May He entrust us with more opportunities
and find us obstinately obedient to His command to love our neighbors...even
with our words.
Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken
at the right time.
Prov.25:11 AMP
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