I’m So Glad You Were Born!
The Transforming Power of Words Fitly Spoken
It was one of those singular moments when the world around you pauses and everything to do with you levels like a bird dog on a point to what’s happening in front of you. That happened to me today as I was mulling over an idea for this blog — the idea of how a word can alter a life. My mulling was of a moment long ago when my demanding (but admired) ninth grade biology teacher stopped at my desk, looked at my detailed drawing of a worm, and said “Fulcher, I want you one day to be the person who draws up my will.” Her words hit me with an oomph — the term the dictionary gives to one being energized and motivated. No, I didn’t become a lawyer but my self-worth quotient rose considerably. Whatever the magic in her words, I never forgot the moment. And now that same phenomenon was being broadcast on TV right in front of me.
Thank You Ainsley Earhardt!
I had never heard of Ainsley Earhardt until that particular moment (above) when I randomly clicked on the TV channel where Earhardt was saying the words I’ve quoted in this page’s title — words she first spoke off-the-cuff to her daughter but words that have now taken the place of “Happy Birthday” in her home — I’m So Glad You Were Born! Earhardt is so convinced of the power in that sentence and in other words sincerely spoken to her children that the sentence has become the title of her new book recently added to her growing arsenal of publications about hope and encouragement in the home.
Have You Ever Been Changed for the Better by a Word Directed Solely at You?
I remember working out on Daytona Beach preparing to enter Georgia Tech on football scholarship. I was apprehensive about maybe becoming no more than a sub on the freshman team. (In that day freshman teams were separate from the varsity.) Three or four friendly bystanders approached me. One of them, an older man who turned out to be a devoted Ohio State football fan, said words to me that I remember still: “I’ve watched you working out, and I want to assure you, you will reach your personal football goals this year.” Then he gave me a buckeye nut — the symbol from which the Ohio State Buckeyes get their name. It was a spontaneous gift, possibly a personal token he always carried with him. It was a memorable moment. I made first string on the freshman team that year with his words often echoing in my head.
A Word Fitly Spoken is Like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver (Prov. 25:11)
What qualities are in a word fitly spoken — a word that has power to change, and transform? Here are four:
Spontaneous — This quality colors all. If a statement has to be prepared it has lost its magic. The word comes from the heart, not the head. It’s visceral, instinctive, deep-rooted truth skipping the thought process.
Salient — Spoken to where a person’s core values lie even if the giver and the receiver are unaware at the moment of what those values are or where they lie. They are words from the heart to the heart.
Sincere — Genuine, honest, far from flattery, not meant to be a compliment (which can be deceptive): i.e. A flattering neighbor is up to no good; he’s probably planning to take advantage of you (Prov.29:5 MSG).
Serendipitous — Spoken at odd times and under circumstances that are often out of context. Coming from out-of-the-blue is a dead give-a-way that the words are unfettered truth.
Have You Ever Been the Originator of a Word Fitly Spoken?
You wouldn’t perceive it, so you wouldn’t know unless the person has looked you up later — later because the blessing you gave takes time to be recognized as such by the recipient. Please know the list above is not meant as a prep list. We can’t prepare. We cannot come upon this phenomenon. It comes upon us if we are inwardly open to the golden rule and outwardly open to see the silver lining in the life of another. One of the blessings of God (as this seems to be) is being blessed to be a blessing. May we be open to such.
Four Whispered Words Changed Her Life Forever
At age 18 Sarah left her small Michigan town to attend an Ivy League college where she did well her first year but floundered her second — becoming wild to the point of being kicked out of school. After notifying her mom and dad she began the long drive home behind the wheel of her Jeep. Would they scream at her, cry, or both? She was frightened. Upon arriving, her mother with red swollen eyes shouted and lectured that she had shamed the family. She anticipated anger and disappointment from her father. His expression confused her. He calmly and kindly, in the middle of her mother’s rant “came toward her and whispered, ‘Are you all right?’ Sarah burst into tears.” Those four golden words turned her life in that instant 180 degrees. (A true story told by Meg Meeker, M.D., in her book Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, pp. 26,27.)