Al Kyte's Life Take-Aways

                                          

As a young military officer I was ordered to Camp Pendleton in southern California and, once there, was warned that my regimental commander was a harsh disciplinarian to be avoided whenever possible.  However, one day I saw him approaching me in a situation where there was no avoiding him.  I noticed that his skin was so reddish it looked as if he was about to explode in anger.  I knew I was about to be chewed out for something, perhaps about my uniform or demeanor, but all I had to do was salute him and say, “Good morning, sir.”  Yet I was anxious, hoping he would simply return my salute and say “Good morning” as the senior officer does.

As he drew close, I gave him my best salute and said my “Good morning, sir.”  To my surprise he smiled, returned my salute, and replied, “Good morning, sir.”  I couldn’t believe it.  He had called me “sir”, a sign of respect reserved for the senior officer.  Suddenly I felt ten feet tall. 

A few years later on a Sunday afternoon Barb and I were visiting her parents, and her dad, the manager of a big plant there, was showing us around that factory.  As we walked through the empty halls, we were approached by a short, grimy-looking man who was probably so low in the hierarchy of employees that he had to work when no one else wanted to.  I believe he did his best to quietly slip past us unnoticed, but Barb’s dad wasn’t having any of that.  He knew that man’s name, greeted him warmly, and introduced him to us as if we were meeting the king, making a point of how important he and his work were to the plant’s operation.  That man brightened visibly and seemed to stand up a little straighter.  I thought to myself, “Now that’s leadership.” 

A few years later at church, God spoke to my mind. “You have only one thing to focus on here for the next few months–blessing people.” So as people gathered together, I would look at their faces to find someone who seemed to need encouragement. I remember going up to a woman acquaintance and complimenting her by saying, “You really have a beautiful smile.” She replied, “Really? No one has ever said that to me.” I was shocked because her smile was so unusually beautiful that I thought she might be tired of hearing about it. I realized that many of us, particularly us men, don’t compliment people nearly enough. On another day, I said something similar to someone else, and that person said, “Thank you for saying that. I’ve heard it before but really needed to hear it today, because today I’m hurting inside.” I believe God was teaching me that He gives us these complimentary thoughts about people to use to bless them, not just to keep to ourselves.

Some years ago our family started a birthday tradition of having each person around the dinner table say something he or she particularly liked about the person being celebrated.  I realized that some of these blessings were unexpected and might never be expressed if not done so on those occasions.  

The scripture, 1 Peter 2:17 starts with the words, “Honor all people…”.  I believe that when you do that unexpectedly, it takes on additional power in lifting people up and transforming them for the time ahead.  We all need those encouraging moments.