04/23/2020
Our amazement does little when kept to ourselves.
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Who knows what seeds of greatness are buried in the human in front of us? What’s sitting dormant that they haven’t uncovered yet?
What creativity, what kindness, what awareness to their own greatness they simply don’t see? What profound innovation, what athletic magic, what compassionate service, what mind-marking words are there in the soil of potential, waiting to be called up?
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My dad is a realist. Optimism is my mom’s strong suit, not his. His critical eye is world class at seeing things can be improved, what could use some correcting, etc. A true enneagram one through and through.
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But his willingness to affirm his girls - mom included - never ceased. On days when I’d come home from dance late or mornings when he had packed my lunch, I still remember finding his words.
Post it size notes with his cursive scribbled out. Nothing lengthy or elaborate - just a few sentences reminding me of what he saw.
Through his eyes - I was smart, hard working, had far more inside me than the world knew yet; to him I was beautiful, articulate, and constantly astounding him with new ways of seeing the world. Whether or not I or anyone else saw it, He did - and would readily tell me so. And from a guy whose opinion was hard won, it meant the world.
Sprinkled through out memories of track meets where I’d failed, soccer games I’d missed the winning shot, 7th grade puddles of tears and hormones, are memories of the notes he wrote. And I kept. Still keep.
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Pulling out the potential of those right in front of us is process we may or may not even know we are in. My deep love for all things handwritten came from this guy. My appreciation for the word and it’s power and the gift we have in affirming the greatness we see in others. So many things I owe to his steadfast capacity to affirm and build into his girls.
As he rounds the corner of another year tomorrow, I’m counting the seeds He’s cultivated - praising God for his willingness to recognize his own amazement and name it for the people right in front of him.
