Tuesday Thoughts

"Words over time can impact someone's direction in life."

Words can make or break a person.  They can mend or damage.  Even unspoken words have an impact on us.   Children are impacted by our words over the span of time.  For example, they say it takes over twelve compliments to make up for one bad comment.   When I think of the impact our words have on our children I think of the Great Wall of China.   This can be looked at two ways they use walls to block out our words and so do we as parents.   But also the wall was built over time.  One stone at a time.   It didn't take a day to build.  "Rome wasn't built in a day."   It was built over a span of 20 years.   About the same amount of time we have impact on our children.   Each rock was laid carefully, just like our words should be carefully laid on our children.  Every rock had a purpose and was strategy.   The wall wasn't built by one but thousands of hard workers.   Words spoken on children aren't just the ones their parents say but also those around them.   Our communities have an impact on our children's lives with their words too.   This community includes those we as parents place in our children's lives and also those who our children bring.    It takes time to build something wonderful and to direct a person on a good path.   Sometimes, just like the wall in China, what we have built needs repaired.  Words don't stop once the path is set but need to continue on.    A friend of mine lost her mother right before she left for college.  She said the one thing she missed the most was her mothers words to her.  She longed for those words to be spoken over her again.   She read through letters and notes her mom gave her when she started to forget those impressive words.  It's been over 2000 years since the first stone was laid for the Great Wall of China.   It is never to late to start speaking words of wisdom, love and grace into our children.