Feathers in the Wind

I am sitting here on this Monday holiday...Duane is working for awhile, and the kids are watching a movie together, so I have a moment of quietness...wow!

I have been thinking and reflecting on a situation that is currently going on in my life, and since this blog is my way of sharing all the ups and downs of my life, I have decided to write about it.

These are my thoughts........
Mean, ugly words are like feathers in the wind! That is the thought that has been rolling around in my head, and it is true. Think about it....when we are angry, we often say things that we wish we hadn't said. No matter their content, when they leave our mouths they are sent in all different directions, never to be gathered back together again. Sometimes, those feathers become like arrows that shatter hearts, and cause pain. Many times I have wanted to take my basket, and try to gather what I said back, but they have already done the damage to the person that I directed them at, and I could never pick them all up again!

There is a verse from the Bible my Aunt Kim shared with me when I was a teenager: Ephesians 4:29.....Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

She taught me the concept that our words should be a gift...a good gift of encouragement, or a helpful gift of truthfulness....but they should be said in love and grace. One version of this verse even says, "....every word a gift". The King James version says it this way, "...that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

Every time we open our mouths to say something, we make a choice to use our words as arrows that will cause damage, or as gifts that will bless.
There are times when we have to say things that are honest and not actually very pretty, in order to resolve conflict. But I believe that even in those times, we have to be careful how we allow them to exit off our tongue. What is the reason we say them....to bring honesty to a situation, or to cause damage and hurt, because we are angry??

All that being said, this morning, I am sitting in a big pile of someone else's feathers. I have to decide if I am going to sit here in the feathers that were aimed at me, or get up and try to brush off as many as I can?
I have to believe the TRUTH that no matter what anyone else thinks or says....I am abundantly loved!

So, I am going to stand up, pick up all the million little pieces of my heart, and allow God to bring healing.

Whom ever it was that said, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me!".....was full of bologna!!