I received one of the best compliments that I have ever received yesterday from someone that I have never met yet that I have loved and known for years. I have been writing letters and sending prayers to a little eleven year-old girl named Justine for the past three years. Sponsoring Justine through Compassion International has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and I am proud to hang Justine’s pictures on my refrigerator and in my office. She makes me smile.
Mail from Burkino Faso always brings warmth to my heart.
We exchange letters and photos approximately on a monthly basis. My all-time favorite letter, until the one I received last night, was the time she and her family got a goat for Christmas and I received a picture with them proudly standing by the new goat to prove it. Last night’s letter I got in the mail was different than most. For the first time ever, Justine paid me a compliment; she blessed me in a way that she could not imagine with a simple statement saying that she thought that my hair was beautiful. Little does Justine know that one of the few things I am sensitive about is my hair. As a child I always wore it short because the chlorine from swim practices destroyed it and, ever since, I have been slightly self-conscious about it.
The best blessings are the ones that come from unexpected places. May we never underestimate the value of a kind word from someone, nor of our potential impact upon someone else with the kind words we might share with others. Words carry the weight of jewels, and I am proof of that. My little Justine, who lives in one of the poorest, most undeveloped countries in the world, has unknowingly shared wealth with someone across the world from her through the small and unassuming messenger of pen and paper.
Thank you Justine for reminding me of the hidden jewels that make life so beautiful.