Balcony People

 It's Saturday morning about 5:30am. I got up early, showered, got a cup of coffee, started the laundry, and turned on the fireplace, with Max curled by my side, to spend some time in my own thoughts.  My mind drifted to balcony people.

You may have never heard that term but I hope you've known it in your life.

Years ago, I read an old book by Joyce Landorf Heatherley.  It was a tiny book, published in 1984.  I don't remember when I bought the book, but it was during a season in life when Shawn was buying books from Half.com - new books, used books, all books at a good price (I have since introduced him to this thing in modern day life called a library).  

This particular book is less than 70 pages. It was used and it came with a handwritten note inside that said "Sue - you are definitely a balcony person and I love you! Vicki 1/06".

The book begins by telling what it is about.   "This book is about the lethal poison of rejection, and the healing antidote of affirmation."

I had never thought of affirmation as being "healing".  But, when I think about it a minute, when others notice the good, the noble, the positive, the strength of our character - and they proceed to tell us about this - we feel noticed.  And when we feel noticed, we begin to see ourselves and we feel nurtured and supported and loved.  And when we feel supported and nurtured and loved, there is a profound amount of peace, and success.

The author tells a story in the beginning of this book about sparrows.  

Sparrows possess remarkable strength and endurance records. They seem to be impervious to severe winds or inclement weather.  They fly continually, all day long, foraging for food. They have been clocked at great speeds and have been known to fly hundreds of miles during one daylight period.  Their endurance and energy levels are enormous and even their wing revolutions per minute present an awesome number. Sparrows are incredibly strong and tough little birds, making them appear virtually indestructible.

However, as powerful as sparrows are.  If you, as a human being, were to catch a sparrow in your hand and squeeze it, you could crush every bone in its body and crush it to death in thirty seconds.

I consider myself a strong leader, a strong woman.  I have raised four beautiful strong women. Six if you include my sisters-in-law, which I do. Ask them their opinion of this and they will make sure you know it, believe me.  

But, despite our strength, each one of us has experienced a crushing blow of rejection from external sources. Each one of us has felt the pain of rejection and criticism. Each one of us have had our spirit broken and we know the staggering effect it has on our life.

Now, I don't mind my basement.  I work down there.  My current basement is not terrible.  But, I remember our first home vividly.  We were so young and buying our first home was cheaper than renting.  We bought that home for $12,500.  Our house payments were less than $200 a month. It had a stove furnace in the middle of the dining room and holes in the floors that radiated heat to the upstairs bedrooms.  It had a tiny bathroom and the claw foot tub was only 4 feet long. We didn't have a washer or dryer.  It was only 900 square feet.  We lived there for 5 years when we first started having children. It was a good investment for us.  But, at this house,  I never liked to go to the basement.  It had a dirt floor, I think.  That's what I remember but it could be my mind exaggerating the darkness of that basement.  It smelled.  There were spider webs and leaky pipes.  I avoided going down there at all costs.

There are people in our lives that are basement people.  These people dwell in the basements of our lives.... (the dark damp spidery basements).  These people pull us down with comments like "you won't make it", "you aren't good enough", "you are stupid".  Sometimes these people don't say anything at all, but they push your head under water by what they don't say.   These people dwell in the basement, and every now and then reach up from the dark, spidery, cold basement and pull you under with their words or actions.

And then there are balcony people.  Sometimes these people are living, and sometimes they are dead.  They are people who have told you, or inspired you, to be more than you are.  To show you and to tell you to be strong, confident, capable, able.  These people, when you succeed, lean over and whisper "I told you so".

Balcony people love, listen, and care from the heart.  Too few people these days love from the heart.  Often we are so concerned with our own welfare, our own successes, our own achievements, that we fail to be able to love others and take delight in honoring them. Too few people these days really listen.  They are deafened by their own pain and struggles and when you speak, they only hear your words and cannot hear your spirit.  Balcony people listen to you without criticizing, without evaluating, without judgement.

The analogy of the "dark horse" originated in the 1830's.  It was a slang phrase for an unfamiliar and unknown trotter who seemingly appeared from nowhere to win a race.  

I would venture to say that the story of every dark horse has a balcony person in their corner, in their ear, on their side.  A balcony person who looked at the soul of their friend and encouraged them to be more than what they thought or believed they could be.

God is  my ultimate balcony person.  When faced with fear of failure, I am reminded that He whispers: 

I created you.

I believe in you.

I have a plan for your life.

I am with you always.

You are able. You are capable. 

You are enough.

I am so grateful for the Lord in my balcony.  I am also grateful for the people He put in my life as balcony people - people who believe in me, who cheer me on, who nurture and care for me, who stand beside me and pull me up, who grab me by the hand and show me how to fly.  And I want to be that to others.  To my girls, to my grandchildren, to my husband, to my sisters and brothers. I want to be that to complete strangers.  

Deep within my soul, to friends and foes, it is my heart's desire to be the kind of person who breathes life and support to others. I want to be the kind of person that my girls admire and want to be.  That one day, when I am in Heaven with Jesus, my children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren can see me, in the balcony, waving my banner, throwing confetti, blowing my party horn, shouting at them saying "YOU CAN DO IT!" "DON'T GIVE UP" "I LOVE YOU!" "YOU ARE GREAT!".