Bit #11: Use your words wisely

Little Life Lesson and Bit of Grace 11: Use your words wisely!

Words are an extremely powerful thing. Be careful what you say as they can never be taken back.

My Uncle Stan is a true saint. He is such a gift to this world and I am so blessed that I have him in my life and have his fun and loving spirit. I can only hope that he will be around for many years and that my children get the same opportunities to know him that I did.

One day a few years ago and he was telling me a story that he had told his grandson. How fitting and how true:

There was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”

The boy then understood how powerful his words were. He looked up at his father and said “I hope you can forgive me father for the holes I put in you.”

Use those powerful words to lift someone's spirits!