My Grandmother died when I was 27 years old. I was out on my own. I had a new job, a new apartment…and a new “hear me roar” kind of attitude. Needless to say, I was young and pretty sure that I knew enough to get by. I had big dreams but not a lot of furniture. So I was happy to get some of my Grandmother’s cherished items when she passed away. I got her dining room table, an old desk and chair combination that screamed “paint me now,” and a box full of random kitchen supplies and decorative items. The 1950’s rooster napkin holder is still one of my favorites.
I clearly remember going through that box full of what other’s might think of as junk and fondly remembering where each item sat in my Grandma’s house. It was toward the bottom of the box that I found “it.” That one item that spoke to me…that reminded me of all the beauty that was my Grandmother. It wasn’t anything of real value. It wasn’t a rare jewel or precious stone. In fact, it really wasn’t worth anything at all, but I still knew it was a treasure.
There at the bottom of that box, I found a little wooden apple painted bright cherry red with green leaves and stem. The grain of the cheap, pressed cut wood was still rough when I ran my fingers over it’s surface. Honestly, it wasn’t the little wooden apple that caught my eye, but rather it was what was lovingly inscribed on it’s surface that drew my attention. On the painted, rough surface of the apple I saw Proverbs 25:11 in my Grandmother’s own handwriting…”A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in baskets of silver.”
I sat for a while holding it my hand, looking at her script, remembering all the good things she had said to me over the years. That is when I realized that this verse was something my Grandma actually lived by. She spoke fit words to almost everyone…The lady in the grocery store line, the sick friend on the phone, her grandchildren, her friends, children, the poor and hurting. Everyone. My Grandmother knew how to speak to people…She was a regular Johnny Appleseed when it came to spreading good words. I thought about all that, and I knew I wanted to be like her. I wanted to be a woman of “fitly spoken words.” So I did what anyone would do with a cherry red wooden apple magnet; I put it on my refrigerator and I still look at it everyday. >
So, this blog is dedicated to seeking out those moments in my life when I actually have the chance to speak the right words to myself and others..and maybe, along the way, catch a glimpse of the silver lining that is all of our dreams.
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