Nine Little Words

Words. Big words. Little words. Fancy words. Easy words. Long words. Silly words. Poetic words. Whispered words. Loving words. His Word.

Words, words, words. They hold immense power. They hurt. They heal. They preach. They guide. They lead. They judge. They soothe. They bring laughter.

They are on pages of loved books, devotionals, journals. They pass the lips of dear friends in delicious conversation. I savor each one.

Friend.

They feel, “I love you mommy.”

They communicate, “Mommy, I’m hungry.”

Mommy.

They bring peace as words pass telephone earpiece, “I’m on my way home.”

They connect and rest, “Come to bed.”

Wife.

His Word. Gospel given. Word encouraging, convicting and wise. Loving, living, breathing, piercing. Alive.

His.

I’m not going to pretend I have great insight on how words are used or even that I am some sort of writer. What I do know is that on one, heavenly ordained day at a women’s retreat, nine little words were placed along my path. I picked them up because they were too good to leave behind.

“How can I ask God to bless you today?”

I remember the first time I heard those words. Oh how they stirred my soul! You mean to tell me that God Himself can pour out a blessing on those He loves by nine simple little words? You mean to tell me that I could ask that question and genuinely take their answer to heart and pray for them? You mean I would not know the impact it made in their life until kingdom come if any at all? I bought it. And to think Shannon Smith [speaker] had never challenged me to do so. She never even offered but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. God would not let me.

And so began my journey, outside of four walls, outside of what I knew to be comfortable, outside of my home, outside of my church, outside of what I knew to be safe. Little did I know how eager I would be to ask and yet afraid at the same time. Little did I know then that it would cause me to face my fears and see how God had been grooming me for these moments when I would ask,

“How can I ask God to bless you today?”

Little did I know I could find such immense pleasure in praying for people I had just met and might never see again. My journey along this path only began in late November 2009 and yet when I write these words just two months later, it feels like I’ve been doing it my whole life.

I can remember the faces and names of those I have asked. I remember their requests with such detail and clarity that I offer them up to God on a regular basis and that has been my true joy.

So along with other wanderings of my day to day life, this blog will be sprinkled with written experiences of those strangers who crossed my path. My hope is that it will lift your spirits or even encourage you to do the same or even pray for those strangers as well.

Join me. Share your stories. Share in the joy.

“How can I ask God to bless you today?”