Why I love Chick-fil-a

One of the worst things about returning from an awesomely loooong vacation, besides the rather startling jolt back to reality and all the laundry that comes with it, is the fact that pretty much all the food you had left in your fridge has now expired. Meaning you have pretty much nothing to make a meal with.

So that is how it came to be that Fred, Elise and I had lunch at Chick-fil-a today. We sat down and I got out the scale while Fred went to get our food. One of the women (Tracy) that works there came over to our table to talk to us.

"So good to see you guys again (yeah, we go there quite a bit). And I just wanted to say how amazed I am at the job you do with your daughter. " She pointed at the scale and continued,"I admire the work you put into taking care of her and I know it can't be easy. I just wanted to tell you what an awesome job you are doing as her Mom."

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I stammered out a few thank yous and I know for a fact I had gone as red as a tomato. I had talked to this lady awhile ago about Elise having D (I think one time she asked us about the scale), and I guess she had taken notice of us every time we were in there.

I cannot tell you the joy it brought to me to hear those words, especially at a time I was feeling a little worn out from D following us on our vacation and giving us a bit of a rough time. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth all the stress and strain. But those words of encouragement was the nourishment that my soul needed.

As I told Fred the story, I started to cry... I guess it was a bit of a delayed reaction. After our meal, Fred went and thanked her, and then spoke to the owner as well. I don't know if she realizes how much of an impact her words had on me, but it was also a good lesson for me on the effect of encouragement. It reminds me of this story:

A number of frogs were travelling through the woods. Two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time. ~ Author unknown.

The book of Proverbs says, "There is death and life in the power of the tongue". Tracy's encouraging words helped to lift me up and made my day (heck, my MONTH!). Along the same lines, destructive words can cause deep wounds; and may even destroy someone's desire to continue trying.

There is enormous power in words. And I am thankful for all the kind ones I receive from my D (and in this case, non-D) peeps.