Have a blessed day!

Clichés and oft repeated catch phrases are nothing new, for main stream society or the Church…

I vividly recall the first time this really struck home for me. It was a Wednesday evening in Pasadena, Texas, and the year was 1972. In an effort at trying to win my heathen soul, Buddy Thompson said, “Barb, tonight can be the first day of the rest of your life.”

It is a rather outdated expression today, but it made enough of an impact that after lo these many moons since that night, the words ring loud and clear.

Some frown upon such expressions, but I don’t think they are so bad. As a matter of fact, sometimes they can have a most unexpected effect.

Case in point…a few weeks ago I was on my early morning Walmart run for groceries. Trust me that before the rest of the world wakes from slumber is the best time to frequent Walmart.

So there I was, loading my goodies on the conveyor, when the young lady at the cash register asked something I’m sure she has asked a zillion times to a zillion customers…“How are you this morning?”

I could have said, “Fine,” or “Glad to be here before the coyotes get up,” but I didn’t say either of those things. Very simply and without fanfare I said, “I’m blessed, thank you…how are you?”

How many times have I answered cashiers in the same manner…no real thought behind it…just making a blanket statement?

True enough, I am blessed, but I don’t think I have never really said it with the intent of conveying to the hearer the glad tidings that I am indeed blessed beyond what those words can reveal.

It was really no different on this particular morning. The young lady responded to my question of her condition of life, by saying, “I’m fine…” It wasn’t but a moment later that she said, “Ya know what? I’m going to say like you…‘I’m blessed, too!”

This woke me from my routine of writing the check with one eye closed to one of opportunity. There was no one in line behind me, so it gave us a chance to talk about the blessedness of waking up this morning. We talked about the fact that regardless of how many cranky customers come her way, she is still blessed.

I asked where she went to church, and when she said she attended Metropolitan Baptist Church, I was able to tell her that I knew some of the members there. It gave us a connection. As I told her the church I used to attend, which is how I knew her church family, it opened a door of opportunity to share.

The expression on her face had totally changed by the time I pushed my cart and walked away, and it all began with a simple phrase…I am blessed!

It doesn’t take much to make a difference in someone’s day. For the young lady in Walmart, it was nothing at all, or so it seemed to me. I did not have to overextend myself. Speaking positive words did not cost me anything. She did not even ask me for anything, but what I gave made all the difference in the world…even if just for those few moments.

Several months ago, I was at the takeout window at Mickey D’s, and I could see that the young lady had been crying. Though there was a lineup behind me, I asked if I could help her in some way. She said that there was a personal matter that was troubling her.

The impatience of those in line behind me necessitated that I hurry, but I said that I would pray for her that very day. Pray I did, for as I pulled to the next window, I whispered her name to the Lord.

A few days later, I pulled up to the same window and the same young lady was there. I don’t think she even remembered me, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the change in her appearance, and the tone in her voice.

We have a chance…sometimes only a slight window of opportunity to water the ground. I didn’t have time to give a Bible study that day, but I did have a moment to water the soil of her heart, allowing that someone could come along and plant the seed.

I believe that, I really do. We don’t have to see folks coming to our church for water baptism to speak a word. They may never come to our local assembly, but we can make a difference, and soften or break up a heart that has been hardened by the cares of life.

So allow me to encourage you today to seize the moment. When the window of opportunity is there to speak a word of blessing, be careful to respond. Our attention at being a blessing just could possibly even save someone’s life…who can say, for we may never know the despair a person may be in at the moment they cross our path.

We have been blessed to be a blessing. Let us remember, not just in this holiday season of warmth, but throughout the year to let the world experience the blessing of a blessed day…