Hmmmm...

I am reading this excellent book by Elyse Fitzpatrick titled Helper By Design. I have enjoyed every page of it and I'm sure it will go into my "regular reading" pile! Today I began reading the chapter on communication and almost laughed out loud at the following paragraph...

Lise Eliot reports: "One recent study found that as early as midgestation, female fetuses move their mouths significantly more than male fetuses, as if already practicing for a lifetime of speech. Girl babies start talking a month or two earlier than boys, and their phrases and sentences tend to be longer."

If you know my darling little Reagan-girl you know why I almost laughed out loud! She is such a talker!! I read this and just imagined her mouth moving before she was even born!! Most of the time she is such an encourager even though she doesn't even really know what that means yet. She loves praying for people (and dinner!) and she looks for details and is very caring and concerned about others. Other times we are really working with her practicing self-control and not talking ALL the time. I pray that she will always talk to us - and talk to us A LOT, but that her speech will honor and glorify the Lord.

Another paragraph in this chapter reads...

The startling truth about speech is that our words either serve to glorify and please Him or they exalt and please ourselves. They either portray Him properly, as a highly polished mirror reflects one who gazes into it, or they offer to the world a shattered and tarnished image of His person. Our words will either serve to proclaim the truth about our glorious, loving Father, or they won't; they will either serve to reveal the oneness in the Trinity, or they will distort it. As you can see, one of the primary tools God has given us to reflect His nature and person to the world is our words, and it's to that end we should seek to excel in their use. God has enriched our lives, especially in our role as helpers, by granting us this gift and entreating us to employ it for His glory and our husbands' good.

And another...
...Godly speech, however, is much more than that. It starts with the way that we view life, with whether we have a godward focus. It's revealed by the words that I speak in my heart when someone cuts me off on the freeway or when I'm drinking lemonade on my back patio, enjoying the spring flowers. Our words are simply the overflow of the thoughts of our hearts, as Jesus said. "The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (Matthew 12:34).

Here's my prayer for us tonight...
Lord, please instill a desire in us to use our words to bring you honor and glory. Show us were we defame Your name both inwardly and outwardly. Please soften our hearts and lead us to repentance and change. Give us a desire to learn new words that point to your power and might and saving grace. Thank you for sending Your Son to die on the Cross for us so that we can encourage one another and not be consumed with selfish gain. As we search Scripture and meditate on Your Word, please write it on our hearts so that when we go to speak we are speaking words that are an overflow of what you have hidden in our hearts. Let us praise you when we wake, when we walk through our day, and as we drift to sleep at night. Amen.