Thursday, July 7, 2016

You Just Never Know


Good morning, all! I posted this poem on my face book page on yesterday and look at its result! I tell you, folks; you just never know what word will touch which heart. Take a listen (read) and see what I mean.

The Response of a Friend of Mine to the Poem
I posted a poem by my dear friend, Alma Jones, today on Encouraging Christian Girls. If you will type Encouraging Christian Girls in the "Search Facebook" at the top of the page, you will go to it.

Poem I Wrote Yesterday
Don't understand
You don't have to
All you have to do is trust
Many things I don't understand
About this great creation, but He does
Just remember/know that
Believing in Him is a must!

A Response from One of My Former Students:
Ms. Alma, I'd like you to know that I enjoyed your history/social studies class more than any other I have ever had. We did a mock trial for Bill Clinton about him perjuring himself regarding his actions with Monica Lewinsky. I was thinking about that today with all of the Hillary Clinton mess going on. You were one of the few teachers who successfully inspired me to work hard outside of class. Thank you so much for being the kind of teacher that could do that for a hard-headed kid like me.

My Response to My Former Student:
Aw-w! Thank you, sweetie. But, that was all in my job, not the one given by man but the one given by Him! You were just a little pumped up, is all. I enjoyed the task of teaching you and the rest of my babies to love to learn and some to learn to love self. Yep, I enjoyed those days, but I enjoy these days, too. I find joy in doing  whatever I can, while I can, always have. Be blessed!

Now, folks, I said all of that to say that you never know which of your words will prick a heart, so it bears to use them with care. Here I am years later, being reminded of deeds that I deed as a teacher long ago. And you know what? This young man's response to my poem has made me look, for a moment, back at a certain portion of the road that I have traveled in life.

You will be hearing about this again, as I am in the process of writing my next book entitled, "Chopping My Row."  And as anybody who has done any chopping of cotton in the Arkansas flatlands, can tell you, you always look back down your row to see how you are doing in your job of chopping that particular row. Yes folks, this young man's words have made me take a look back down my row.

My advice to you is that you take a periodic look back down your row. Do you like what you see? For never forget, we reap what we have sown (i.e. You get what you have planted.) I have just harvested seeds of kindness and care that I planted over twenty years ago. Umph! Umph! Umph! You just never know; do you?

Doing  What I Can, While I Can,
Alma Jones

Aside - This is the way that it went. I posted a poem. 2. A friend of mine saw it, liked it and reposted it on her website. 3. A former student of mine saw where she tagged me in a post and responded to the poem in a comment to me about things that happened when he was just a middle schooler. Thank you, Matt. Those flowers do smell sweet. And most of all, thank you, Lord, for allowing me to be able to receive and smell them. To me, Jesus, this is another one of your tailor-made blessings!

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