Beautiful and Quiet and Noisy

I am not a "nature girl" at all. Don't get me wrong, I love nature. God has made some wonderful things, including stars, trees, oceans, lakes, flowers, animals, and about a zillion and a half other things. I love them all. However, I cannot take heat and humidity, and I hate being "eaten alive" by insects, so I stay indoors most of the time. For a little while tonight though, I was a nature girl.

I went outside to bring the dog in, and it was just so beautiful outside that I just sat in a chair with Cubbie lying quietly in the grass at my feet. Living in a rural area there are not many lights, so on a cloudless night the sky is dark and full of stars, along with an occasional airplane flying by high overhead. For quite a while I just sat, looking up. Praise and prayer just came naturally, sitting there surrounded by all that beauty and the cool air with its occasional refreshing breeze. I quietly sang "Our God is an Awesome God," and the first few lines of Chris Tomlin's "God of Wonders" as I marveled at the stars and the vastness of space.

It was so quiet and beautiful.

Then I sat for awhile with my eyes closed. I started hearing all the life around me. There were insects and frogs nearby, filling the air with their chirps. The birds that spend their whole mornings singing were asleep, turning the stage over to them. Far away, I heard a few dogs barking. A cow mooed, one short, quiet moo. The insects and frogs were the main focus of tonight's concert though.

It was so noisy and beautiful.

Our God truly is an awesome God!

Think Before You Speak, or in Some Cases Think and Keep Your Big Mouth Shut!

            "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment." Matthew 12:36.

            Once upon a time there was a twenty-something Sunday School teacher. She was considered intelligent, and some said she was very wise for her years. However, she had a big problem. She sometimes did not think before she spoke. She was always saying things and then wishing she had not said them. These were almost always very minor things that did not make much difference, but she still wished she had not spoken without thinking first.

            Then one Sunday, as her Kindergarten Sunday School class played on the playground near the end of class, this teacher's habit of speaking without thinking caused a major problem.

            The children in her class were all wonderful children and the teacher loved all of them. She had been having quite a time that day however with one girl in the class. This little girl was sweet as could be, but she had a tendency to be rather a know-it-all and to sometimes be a little bossy.

            While the class played on the playground equipment a woman stopped by to watch the children and chat with the teacher. The teacher recognized her from around the church but did not know who she was. They were having a pleasant conversation about the nice day, and about the children. When the one little girl was mentioned, the teacher, without stopping to think for even a second, said (in so many words) that she was kind of a know-it-all. As the woman's face began to fall, the teacher, finally thinking a million miles a second (albeit too late) said (all the while maintaining her smile and cheery voice), "She's your daughter, isn't she?!" She went on to say how much she loved the little girl and other things to try to patch up the damage she had undoubtedly caused between her and this rightfully angry mother.

            Because of her hasty words, spoken without thinking, a rift was caused between this teacher and a parent. If the teacher had only thought before speaking, this rift would not have occurred. It took awhile, but the mother did forgive the teacher, and they were able to put the incident behind them.

            I would love to tell you that this Sunday School teacher never made that mistake again, but that would be a lie. She actually made another one just as bad (as a college student this time) not long after that. It took these two major incidents to finally teach her to think before she spoke. It still happens to her now and then, in much smaller ways, but she prays quite often that God will help her to think before speaking, and to sometimes think and not speak at all.

            Psalm 49:3 says, "My mouth will speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart will be understanding." It is my hope that I will live as this verse says and speak wisdom rather than unthinking folly. And if I ever speak to any of you without thinking first, as I did with that child's mother, please give me a kick in the pants and remind me to think before speaking!