A Little Watering

Once upon a time there was a peach tree.  From the outside appearance, this tree was all dried up, useless, and not worth much.  In the summer, when fruit bearing season came along, this peach tree put out warts instead of peaches.  Needless to say, they were dried up and very small. Even the crows left them along, if crows indeed eat peaches. 

One fine March, I decided to give this tree one more season before chopping it down.  I soon came to realize that maybe this tree simply needed watering.  So, every afternoon when I got home, I faithfully watered the tree.  Some evenings, it seems I stood for nearly an hour simply holding the garden hose to the base of the peach tree.

Time passed.  When the peaches came in later that season, my Albuquerque peach tree produced peaches in bushels and basketfuls.  They were large and juicy and sweet peaches.

You see.  My peach tree simply needed a bit of watering.  Just some faithful watering.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy, far, far away, there lived a skinny nine year old boy.  He wore tattered jeans, dirty tennis shoes and a ball cap.  His hang-down expression pretty much summed up the story of his life.  You see, he never heard much in the way of kind and positive words.  He heard plenty of “don’t do that.  Stop that boy.  Get away from there.  What do you think you’re doing?”

One fine day a wise older man came into the young boy’s life.  He expected to hear the same barrage of put-down’s he had heard for most of his life.

Instead, he heard words like, “Good job.  You did great!  I like the way you performed today.  Where did you learn to do that?  Outstanding.  Simply outstanding."

Our young lad grew.  He replayed the words of the kind and gracious old man.  He began to see himself remade in the image of the esteem that he heard from his older mentor.  

He grew.  And grew.  And grew. 

Not so much in size and height – but in terms of an inside job.  He saw himself as a capable, useful and worthwhile human being. 

He became a believer in himself because he saw himself through the eyes of an encourager. 

The old man simply watered the young man.  He poured on him water of encouraging words, and gave him a coat of “self-belief.”

The end!

But really, it is only the beginning.  To whom can you give words of esteem and encouragement?

A child

An employee

A neighbor

A nephew or niece

Pass it along -- words of esteem that is.

P Michael Biggs

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