What is the first thing that you notice about a person? For me personally, it is the eyes. The Bible says that the eyes are the windows of the soul. I have family members that notice the teeth and the smile first and the smile is important to me as well. A smile can just light up a face and bring a welcoming expression of the heart.

For at least the last two days I have struggled with what I am wanting to write tonight. I have really been in prayer about it.

For several weeks now in our little town there has been a turmoil going on and it involves an incident that happened because a teenage young man did a very dumb thing.

All week I have thought of how many times my immediate family has been the topic of conversation around the town’s tables for different reasons.

When I was younger I would have enjoyed a bit of juicy gossip from time to time and the persons in the story were not real characters to me but only He said and She said kind of pass arounds. What does a little small talk hurt anyway?

What will stop the enjoyment of gossip is when you actually live through it. My children say that on my tombstone they will have the words engraved that say, “It’ll Come Home to You” because I have said that to them so many times.

I have found over the years that the way that you treat other people is what comes back around to you and the amount of forgiveness that you give to others is the dose of forgiveness that our good Lord gives you back.

The night that our son Danny died, the Livingston, Tn. topix column was going crazy with comments and people saying that no matter what our family said that he died such and such way and for these reasons. Someone even went as far as to suggest that since I found him that I played a part in his death and that my son-in-law at the time being a cop arrived on the scene and helped me somehow cover it up. Unbelievable! Finally on topix, someone with guts spoke up and said, “Why don’t everyone just stop this and let this family alone, they are hurting and let them grieve in peace.” The comments stopped after that.

You say to me, why did you read those comments. I didn’t. Some well meaning friends had to make sure that they told me everything that was said about us. How painful and how cruel!

We look on the outward appearance of things but thank the good Lord, He looks on the inward heart of man and he sees us for who we really are and He knows us.

Instead of everyone gossiping about this incident in our town, why don’t we let the families involved settle it among themselves and the rest of us stay out of it and just pray and leave it in the hands of God.

Gossip is something that can destroy someone, especially a young person. We all make mistakes and a lot of us never get caught in our mistakes but some do and the consequences are almost unbearable to live through at times. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and start looking at their inside heart and not what appears on the surface. We would all be so much happier if we did this.

 

No telling what this lesson is going to accomplish in the future for this young man. Give God a chance to prove Himself to all involved.

You can turn things around in this town by focusing on what God sees in a person and looking more to the inside instead of the outside.

Success is failure turned inside/out!