Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Words matter - encounter with a kind police officer

Last August my wife and I bought our first home. We bought a nice rancher in a quiet section of Coatesville. The house was empty for a few years before we moved in, and from what we've been told, was not in the best condition. Someone bought the house and did some really nice renovations before we bought it. From the moment we walked in the front door we loved the house! The yard, well, that's a different story.

My wife and I have no clue how to garden, landscape or do just about anything other than cut the grass and rake leaves. Still, we've been trying. We tried to grow some new grass, dug out some ugly bushes and planted a few flowers. But whenever we look at the yard we seem to see what is wrong with the yard. We see the dead patches of grass that we cannot seem to get to grow. We see the weeds and the areas that we never got around to mulching last Spring. We see the flowers that we planted that should have been planted elsewhere. And now, we see the leaves. Everywhere.

The other weekend I was spending some time gathering leaves to mulch with the tractor (because if you have to do yard work, it might as well be fun!). To be honest, I was a bit discouraged. It was early Fall and the ground was already covered by the large trees in the yard. The leaves were already caught in flower beds and I knew already, it's going to be a long battle with them this year.

So, as I was raking and listening to some music in my headphones a black SUV pulls around the bend in the road. It was a local police officer. He waved me over to the his SUV as he stopped at the edge of the driveway. I put down the rake and walked over to him. I was not expecting what he said next. He put the SUV in park, looked at me, looked at the yard and said "you guys have done a great job with this place". I gave him a questioning look and he told me that he often drives by this road and that he remembered this house from when it sat vacant and that it is a 100% better now than before. We chatted for a while as he told me what it used to look like and that he was glad to see a family making it better.

As he left that day I was reminded again of the power of our words; they have so much power! We can make someone's day or we can break them. We can offer a person life or we can kill them with the power of our words. This officer, who had never met me before, chose to offer life. it didn't cost him anything at all other than a few minutes of his time. But those few minutes and those few words changed my outlook on the rest of my day.

I'm sure that most of us have examples of similar experiences; times where someone offered a kind word just when you needed it - life. Sadly, I'm sure that most of us also have experiences where someone's words tore you to pieces - death. Our words are free and are freely given. But the rewards f those words are worth more than gold. I'm reminded more often lately to watch what I say and how I say it. I'm reminded to offer life with my words at all times. To bring joy to others, not destruction.




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