Thursday, February 2, 2012

Apples of Gold

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Proverbs 25:11

Just under this verse in my Bible is a cross-reference to Proverbs 15:23, "A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!"

Two years ago, when I was  VERY pregnant with our baby girl, my husband insisted on getting text on our phones. Now, we are by nature frugal people. However, I was very far along and he was working 60+ hours a week between his full-time job and his part-time one. He's not always able to talk (who is?) but he wanted me to be able to get in touch with him "just in case" I went into labor and he couldn't answer his phone. ("I can always flip it open and read," he said.So now we have text.)

I fought it at first. "It's unnecessary. It's a waste. I'll never use it."

The $5 more a month we pay extra for this service holds no comparison to the blessing it has been for him and for me.

At random, one of us will text the other, "Love you. Praying for you." So many times it is just at the right moment- usually, a stressful, testing time during the course of our days. Sometime's it's during the baby's naptime and it's a quick, "Bring home a pizza. It's been a LOOONNNGGG day!" Sometimes it's flirty. (Hey, who doesn't like to flirt with the love of their life?)

One of my favorite texts  is "You rock." I like to send it, and I love to receive it. Just so happens that I just received that message a few minutes ago.

That totally made my whole day.

We all have jobs that at one time or another are thankless. Police officer, teacher, stay-at-home mom, dogcatcher, custodian, computer systems analyst, President- whatever the job- at times they are all thankless.

A random kind, genuine word of encouragement in the middle of the day can make all the difference- to a spouse, to a child, to a stranger, to a friend.

So I encourage you- send an 'apple of gold' to someone today. Send it in an email, a phone call, a text, post it on someone's 'wall', write them a note, or tell them in person.

No matter what way you deliver your 'apple'- it will always arrive right on time.