Be careful how you sign your name...

I got an email recently.  Right before the person signed his name, he put a special word.  I know he was praying and wished me well.  But the word had irked me before.  Well, not the word really but the misuse of it.

Once I got a scathing email.  It cut me down and was a terrible thing to receive.  I wish I had never read it!  I had to forward it to Pete AND one of my friends and let them counsel me.  The person used the SAME word as they signed off the mean email.

I was visiting a friend at her business, and she was telling me how this woman had misrepresented something big to her; and it was costing her money and lots of headaches.  She was trying to correct the deal, but the woman would not budge.  The woman had lied and been hard to deal with in a business sense.  But every time she left my friend's business, she used the SAME word as her departing word!

So be careful how you sign off - in writing or in person!  I would not want to say a word that makes it sound like I am praying for that person and wishing him the best while I am doing my own worldly thing.

So now I can enjoy the word again.  It has taken back its meaning that others have tried to take away.  It's a great word really.  Just be careful how you use it!

And the actual word does not matter as much.  It's the other words and actions that speak louder than that word.  I just am reminded to not "cover" my own agendas with something that appears I am close to God and wishing His best for someone (especially when I am really not).

Just like when I tell someone I am praying for them, I stop and pray right then (or pray again right then).  If I say I will do it, I want to do it.  I appreciate all who pray for me and my family.  Those prayers get us by.

Just a thought after seeing that word...