The Power of a Positive Word

Don't worry. I'll get back to my P31W posts eventually. I keep getting distracted. (No surprise there...heh...) But I'll continue soon. I just want to share with you guys how awesome God is and how He times things perfectly and how God blessed me through a very unlikely source.

A while back I posted about the power our negative words have on people, but I didn't really look at how our positive one affect people too - total oversight on my part. I had an experience with an eight grader from my school on Friday night that reminded me the of the power in a positive word and how important it is to be aware of when a positive word should be given.

You need a lil' background to understand why this blessed me so much. Ever since I was  a little kid I have valued my singing voice probably more than anything. Recently, I have been pouring tons of time into learning to sing new styles and songs. Well, I've been really discouraged because I feel like I practice for nothing. Like I sing at convention, and I sing at home...but really, no one benefits. So I'm just practicing to practice? Whats the point? On top of that, I feel like I'm never going to get any better, which is a serious serious issue. If I don't -- I need to, I'll leave it at that. I believe I've kinda been losing faith in God that He has given me passions and abilities for a reason. I've let myself slide into thinking that it's all for nothing and no one is going to profit. (Which is dumb when you think about it because I'm singing for the Lord. O.o)But this post is about him not me.

So Friday night at the Alumni game I was obviously singing. I don't really remember though. Wait! now that I think about it - I think I was singing "When You Believe"...It was stuck in my head all day long. Everyone was leaving and this eighth grader (I'll leave out his name) stopped beside me and gave me a really sweet hug.  He said something along the lines of, "Ashley, you have been gifted with such a beautiful voice. Really. God's really gifted you."

I wanted to squeeze him until his head popped off. On top of the fact that he is SO ADORABLE! Lol. I have a bunch of eighth grader buddies.

God knew how much I needed that. My friend did not. He was simply being nice. If I had just sang my convention solo at performance night, I wouldn't have been have as complimented or blessed - it was the fact that a younger guy randomly said it. I almost burst into tears.

God used that little thing to remind me that I haven't been trusting Him. That I've been so worried that my practice and stuff has been in vain and for no reason, but God, doesn't do stuff like that. He doesn't give us deep deep passions like that and never let us use them in some way. God gifts people and as Christians, we are called to use them.

I am so glad that God cares enough about me to remind me that He always has a plan - and I never do. ;)

I am encouraged by my friend to compliment people more and go out of my way to say a kind word because we don't know people's hearts and we can never know what they are going through. The slightest comment or even a smile could brighten someone's day. And the reverse affect - if we unknowingly tease someone about something they are embarrassed of, we could ruin them. Like one time when someone said something negative about my voice - it took me forever to sing after that.

I'm not makin much since...sorry. I'm going to try to start complimenting people more. Not flattery though - there's a difference. Or even just really acting like a care instead of just floating from person to person. You don't know who's watching. You don't know people's hearts. You don't know their stories. And you may never know who you're blessing. That's an inspiring thought to me.