On a Napkin

Proverbs 16 instructs us about using well-chosen, encouraging words:
23 The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And adds learning to his lips.
24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

Jesus taught that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  So, our words can be indicators of the attitudes of our hearts.  So, are we people who are given to complaining or criticism?   Do our words communicate life, light, and hope, or do they convey a sense of darkness or even contradict Scripture?   Words are powerful tools that can exhort someone or to wound another person.  So, we can check our hearts and ask God to transform our attitudes, so that the words we speak reflect a gracious spirit.

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We are called to be people who build up and not tear down, who speak the truth and do that in love.
Ephesians 4 says:
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Lives can be touched and perspectives can be changed through the communication of encouraging messages.  From Sophie Hudson's Twitter feed, @boomama, I learned about Billy Ivey and a way in which he is involved to raise the spirits of children.

He tells the story:

Late last year, I began posting the lunch box notes I write to my kids every morning to Instagram. A couple of weeks later, Napkinisms kind of went viral. People started liking, sharing, posting, commenting, and even creating messages of their own and posting them to my page. To date, hundreds of thousands of people have now seen and shared "Napkinisms," and momentum continues to build around this silly idea...

So, basically we're talking a simple message written on a napkin.  For instance, a message that he linked to from Twitter at @wrivey earlier this week said, "There are 1,440 minutes in every day.  Pick one, and do something amazing."  This is one of messages being shared with kids through the Chick-Fil-A Foundation.

On his website, Napkinisms.com, Billy shares why he thinks that the effort has gained momentum. He says, it's "because people like to smile. Everyone needs to be encouraged and inspired and reminded of moments in their lives when someone took the time to brighten their day, and these more often than not ridiculous notes have hit on a universal need we all have to feel special - if only for a moment."

Ivey writes:

So, what's next for Napkinisms? That's where you come in. Through this site, you can now create insightful, funny, or flat-out-silly and smile-inducing messages that will be scribbled on a napkin (by me) and put in kids' lunches every week this summer by the Chick-fil-A Foundation and Action Ministries. Please take a look around and consider submitting a message to share.

Action Ministries is a Georgia-based ministry involved in helping to lead people out of poverty.  The Chick-fil-A Foundation is devoted to positively influencing youth in communities through a variety of initiatives.

So, what do we take away from this story.   First of all, you have an opportunity to serve, and contribute to Billy's writer's cramp!  That is amazing that he is handwriting those notes on napkins to bring a smile or encouragement to a child.  This is yet another example of a creative person behaving creatively.  For the Christian, each of us can be challenged to exercise our gifts and our skills for the glory of God.

And, I think that simple messages can have a profound impact.  People are thinking about how to place a message within the space of a napkin.  It's not the abundance of words that can lift up someone's spirit, but the meaning of those words.  And, the creative way in which they are being communicated reinforces that message.

Finally, we can think about the power of sacrifice.   Billy Ivey and his contributors are taking moments to touch another life.  It's more than just checking a box or writing a check.  It's thinking about what needs to be said - and saying it.  Time, and how that time is used, are great gifts that can be used for His glory.  You've only got 1,440 minutes every day - maybe you can take one...or more...to attempt to impact someone else.