Word of Mouth...

Do we really ever realize just how powerful our tongue can be??


It all started as a summer job...a way to save money for college.



Since Maine is "Vacationland", and we live on the coast, we are surrounded by what the locals affectionately call "Summer People."

And naturally, for the most part, summer people do not like to mow their lawns...not when they are on vacation.

So, my oldest sons began mowing lawns...through high school...and college...to help finance their tuition.

And then, amazingly quickly, four years went by. Undergraduate school was over. One of my sons decided to go on for his masters degree...in theology...

The other...the job market.

It's an age old story...fill out job applications...write resumes...go for interviews...Joshua had graduated with a degree in business administration. He loves working with numbers. With many addtional accounting classes under his belt...banking seemed the logical avenue.

During his search...several of our neighbors asked him if he would continue to mow lawns until he found a full-time job...or if his younger brother would be taking over "the business"...

Up to this point, Joshua had never really considered what he did in the summer as a "business"...but he started to notice that he was getting more and more calls...for mowing...for yardwork...just by "word of mouth."

And since he loves the outdoors...he continued to mow...and search for a "real job."

Finally, the offers came...Josh accepted a banking position on a "trial basis" to see if it was really what he was looking for...

It took less than a week for Josh, and for us, to realize that this was not what God had in mind for him...

"Do you think I could make my lawncare business work?" he asked us one day. We knew that Josh could do anything he set his mind to...so we encouraged him to try.

He began applying all those skills he'd learned in college to his business...marketing, advertising, accounting...

But, we noticed, that his business continued to grow...not so much by the advertising and marketing...but by "word of mouth."

This summer...most of his new "clients" are folks who heard about him "through the grapevine". Josh has been studying up and learning new skills to add to, improve, and expand his business...

And...praise God...Joshua's business continues to grow...but mostly by "word of mouth".

Joshua shared with us the other evening during our family devotions that he had received a lovely note with his payment for doing some "clearing" work for a first time customer. She also included more payment than he had asked for. Funny thing, Josh was more excited about the encouraging note than the extra money.

It made me think...do I carefully consider my words before they leave my mouth? Are they an encouragement...helping to build rather than destroy? Do they bring glory and honour to my Savior?

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:29-30