Sticks and Stones

We've all heard the saying before. Maybe we've even said it before. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." But in all reality, broken bones heal and it's the words that can leave the deepest scars. This was basically the message at church this morning - and one that I think everyone should hear. It came at a good time for me, especially. I've been working so much on honoring God through celebrating the strength He's given me that I maybe haven't been spending as much time as I should exercising (or in some aspects, limiting exercising) of another important group of muscles - my tongue. As James 3:10 says, "From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." How can we use our tongues both to praise God at one moment, and then use it to call others names,  gossip, or make rude comments the next? Unfortunately, it comes all too easily... maybe because we don't think that our mouths - such a small part of us - can make a big difference. But fires start with kindling and sparks and even the biggest of rivers needs to start somewhere. 


The pastor at the church I attended this morning had some good stories that illustrated this point. Remember the telephone game? You know, the one where the first person chooses a sentence, whispers it to the next person, who whispers it to the next, etc. By the end of the line, the sentence has usually gone some crazy transformation. The real life version of this game, we call the rumor mill. We might let ourselves tell a friend something little. There is no harm in sharing a little bit of information, right? ESPECIALLY when it's your best friend who would never, ever tell anyone else. Oh, but wait. That best friend probably has another best friend (or close friend) and thinks the same thing - "oh, it wouldn't hurt to just tell this one other person." This thinking goes on, and all of a sudden, that little piece of information has made its way to the masses and probably has added details that people along the line assumed and decided to include. This is where the pastor used a second story to metaphorically demonstrate what can happen. The pastor and his wife, who live on a hill, have a four-year-old son. The wife was pulling out the summer tires from under the deck, but had to go get something from the front of the house. Of course, she tells her little boy, "Don't touch the tires." It's probably no surprise, then, that when she came back, she found the boy at the top of the hill with a tire... and before she could get to him, he give it the slightest nudge down the hill. The wife is slightly upset, but laughs it off thinking that the tire will fall over and stop when it gets to the trees lining the highway at the bottom of the hill. Nope. It keeps going, gathering speed and bouncing over the highway into the neighboring development... and breaks through someone's front door. And it all began with the tiniest push.


Moral of the story, its time to try to tame the tongue and watch what we say. As the pastor said, "let our words teach and our actions preach." He also gave ten phrases that we should use daily:


1. I'm wrong
- Yes, this is hard to say sometimes. But, if you realize that you are mistaken, what is stopping you from admitting it? Pride? Doesn't it show more character to admit and try to fix one's flaws than to pretend they don't exist? Instead, take pride in knowing that you have the courage to admit your mistakes.
2. I'm sorry
- Say it and MEAN it. It's surprising how much one little "I'm sorry" can make a difference.
3. Please forgive me
- Never be ashamed to ask for forgiveness!
4. I believe in you
- Do you remember being little and trying to do something you've never done before? Like going on the monkey bars. It felt SO GOOD to have someone tell you "you can do it!" It's STILL inspiring to hear those words, and can really make a difference to someone going through a hard time.
5. I'm proud of you
- We all want affirmation. It feels great to be recognized for a job well done, a good deed, etc.  
6. Thank you
- Hopefully you all knew this one, anyway...
7. I need you
- Don't be afraid to admit that you can't do something on your own. You might need help, and the other person might need purpose.
8. I trust you
- Remember the last time someone said this to you? How did it feel? Gosh darn good, that's how it felt!
9. I respect you
- Let someone have some them time. Are you someone who walks into a room and says "HERE I AM!" or are you the one who walks in and says "Oh, there you are!"?
10. I love you
- DON'T LET ANYONE FORGET THAT THEY ARE LOVED! It's a big, big world out there and sometimes we just need to be reminded that we are treasured.

So that about sums up the sermon. Another thing I get a little taste of today was patience. Right after throwing all my ingredients into the crock pot for dinner tonight, I realized that the lid was missing. My best guess is that one of my past two roommates accidentally took it home with them when they moved out. Bummer. So I fashioned an improvised lid of tinfoil and a pie pan. Let it sit for two hours, added in the chicken broth and rice... then decided to read the chicken broth container. I am by no means a cook. I don't claim to know anything about cooking. Turns out I should have read the container after I first used it two months ago... as I then would have known to keep it in the refrigerator and use it within 14 days. Being that neither of those things happened and chicken broth that has expired is potentially deadly, I threw out all of my dinner (plus leftovers for the next two weeks. It called for 3lbs of chicken!!)

But, God is good. I told my neighbor what had happened and he invited me over for a good, home-cooked dinner of chicken (covered in all sorts of spices that I didn't even know existed!), rice, and a veggie mix (red cabbage, carrots, bok choy, red pepper and onion). Probably much healthier than what I was going to eat, and much better company, too :)

I was also able to get in my INSANITY workout and 2 (separate) one-mile jogs. Uff. Two more days of INSANITY before my break day. I'm ready to let my body rest!