Wordy…

SHHH! “Don’t say things like that…It’s not nice.”

Shhh! “Lower your voice.”

“Be Quiet! Stop talking (so much).”

“That was rude, watch your tone…”

Often times, I say these thing to my kids every day. They have the gift of gab. While I am so blessed to have children that can express themselves through language, I am exhausted listening to them be rude to one another and talking just to hear themselves, or so it undoubtedly seems.

Often times there is too much said and too little done. Too little kindness, too little meditation on the word, too little time spent with God, too little of the Right things we should be doing. There is also excess where there is depletion…too much fighting, too much yelling, too much rebellion, too much Idleness. Proverbs 10:19 says: Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues. (NIV)

This week I have have decided that enough is enough. I have told my children that unless they have something positive, gratifying, loving or an important question, they are only to open their mouths to eat. If we have anything negative to say, rude, or just general silly or caddy statements, we must keep them to ourselves.

We as a family need to glorify God, not only with our actions, but with our words as well. We need to be mindful of what we say and speak to others and how it will affect them. We need to think about what we have to say before it come out of our mouths. Proverbs 12:18 says: The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (NIV) Be mindful of what you are verbally producing and turn it so that it brings glory to God , or don’t say anything at all. Ephesians 4:15 states: Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (NIV)

The plan goes a little like this:
When someone says something that does not need to be said, is hurtful, rude to someone, or is an unnecessary statement, we put one index finger on our lips like we are “shhhing” the person. We do not make a sound, we simply do this action. We do this until the person speaking realizes what they are doing wrong. Today is only day #2, so we will see how it goes with my extremely conversation oriented family. Wish us luck and patience!

Holly is an imperfect homeschooling wife, mother, photographer and dog mom. She spends her days enjoying every moment in Germany and thanking God for her blessings.