You know that I love to walk through the woods.  I have hiked, jogged, biked, crawled and climbed into and out of every forest I can find.  You see many different kinds of signs nailed to trees and fences while you are in the woods.  This one originally said, No Hunting, perhaps what it should have said was, Beware, enter at your own risk.  These were some spooky woods, full of swamps, briers, bobcats, coyotes and all the creepy crawlers you could imagine.

        Sadly, life is often a lot like this hostile plot of ground.  Perhaps the signs you are forced to read at work say something like, “No Opportunity Here”.  Maybe in school you are bullied, pushed around and picked on.  Possibly home for you is filled with signs that read, “You’re Stupid”, or “You will never amount to anything”.  Life is filled with signs. And we all hang out nonverbal signs all around us everyday.  Our signs may be nailed to our hateful facial expressions, sarcastic words or our icy silence, but we all communicate effectively and loudly with our signs.

        Once upon a time I was a Juvenile Probation Officer.  One of my tasks in this job was to do “Intake”.  Intake was the initial formal process of addressing a complaint when some type of delinquency, abuse or neglect was reported.  Often gathered in my small office were a tearful mother, an angry father and a child embarrassed beyond belief.  The night before the child was arrested with drugs or committing a crime of some type and they were instructed to appear in my office the next morning.  So many times when the door shut the parents immediately began a verbal assault upon the child that they were obviously well practiced in.

        Children learn what they live.  Fill a child’s world with words of insults, degrading name calling and humiliation you destroy the foundation that should be used to build them up and create a place of safety.  Today, let us use our words to encourage and support those around us.  They may be living in a very difficult place and really need to see a sign that says, “You’re Special”.  What do the signs in your office say?  What about your kitchen?  Do they say, “Welcome” or “Keep Out”? 

Something to think about:

• Of all the things you wear; your expression is the most important.

• While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier because neighbors were so few, it is even more important now because our neighbors are so many.

• Love your children with all your hearts; love them enough to discipline them before it is too late. . . . Praise them for important things, even if you have to stretch them a bit. Praise them a lot. They live on it like bread and butter, and they need it more than bread and butter.

• There are those who depend on us, watch us, learn from us, and take from us. And we never know. Don’t sell yourself short. You may never have proof of your importance, but you are more important than you think.

• Among the smaller duties of life I hardly know any one more important than that of not praising where praise is not due.

• Lack of something to feel important about is almost the greatest tragedy a man may have.

• Your smile is more important than anything else you wear.

• The most important things in your home are people.

You are special
Rickey Moore