In the beginning was...the Word
I do not usually talk about religion or politics on this blog, primarily because the purpose of this blog is to share pictures and stories about our family with our friends and family who are not close by us, and because we all share so many different opinions about both. Well, it seems a growing audience of this blog goes to my church now or are friends who live in the KC area, which by the way is so exciting and fun because you all get to see the sillier side to our family now. Since I added our McCain/Palin support sign on our blog a while back I thought I would go crazy and write one post on religion...
I just got home from the 2008 National Desiring God conference titled "The Wisdom of Words and the Wonder of God" in Minneapolis and have to share a few of the things I learned there about my tongue and the use of words in everyday life. They have already put each conference speaker at the event online so if you get an hour break or so this evening, you should check one out. My favorites were Piper, Driscoll, and Tripp and the conference text was primarily on James 3.
The conference began with a family getting ready for a day..a father gets out of bed, kicks a laundry basket full of clothes and wakes the wife by yelling at her for not putting them away. She gets up right after he pulls the covers off two daughters and yells at them to hurry up. The wife tells the daughter she needs to change her outfit she had put on, the daughter gets upset, and then she gives the other daughter cereal. She then puts on her makeup while her husband puts on his tie in a tiny bathroom together. They both seems annoyed and although you can't hear what they are saying because of the background music playing, you can tell they are exchanging mean words to one another. The wife then goes down to clean a big mess in the kitchen, utters something under breathe and they all walk out the a van in a hurry. The kids look really pretty sad and the couple starts to argue about the way he is driving while she is putting on her lipstick. They park the car and run into a building and start smiling and laughing with another couple inside. The background music then stops playing and you see the family of four singing praise music in a church service really loudly - the man is holding his hands up and the wife has her eyes closed. The following verse appears on the screen from James 3: 9-10:
"With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
Would you want all the conversations/words you have spoken the past month to be played before an audience or your church or your family? I know I wouldn't it and I claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ. This conference was a reminder to me that words are huge in our culture...we speak them, read them, worship with them, study them, write stories with them, parent/discipline with them, and most of all can CONTROL them! My prayer after this conference is that I will remember the affects of using words in my everyday life and the importance of the Word of God in that life. I want to be an example to my children and just like that family on the video clip, we cannot use the same tongue in the morning before church in a harsh manner and then worship God with it an hour later. We cannot say everything on our rotten hearts to people we love and just assume they can forget them in theirs. For those fellow young mothers out there, speak to your children out of love and know that they are listening always - even when they can't talk. Your are their example and the relationships you have with others are teaching them how to relate to people. Stop and listen how many times in a day you use the words "I" and "want" - I am using them way too much. This world is not about us! If you get nothing more from this post then to discover I am a Republican and a reformed follower of Christ, I hope you will use your tongue in ways that glorify His Word and His Kingdom, not our selfish little kingdoms in our own little lives! I plan to watch the conference videos again so I can study those scriptures more and realize in His Word how to use words like He did. I praise God already for His Grace because I know I will not succeed each day, but I must press on and trusting Him for help. Ask God to reveal to you words in your life and how he can help you use them, I know I will.
More funny stories and pictures about the Hanson Crew tomorrow...
I just got home from the 2008 National Desiring God conference titled "The Wisdom of Words and the Wonder of God" in Minneapolis and have to share a few of the things I learned there about my tongue and the use of words in everyday life. They have already put each conference speaker at the event online so if you get an hour break or so this evening, you should check one out. My favorites were Piper, Driscoll, and Tripp and the conference text was primarily on James 3.
The conference began with a family getting ready for a day..a father gets out of bed, kicks a laundry basket full of clothes and wakes the wife by yelling at her for not putting them away. She gets up right after he pulls the covers off two daughters and yells at them to hurry up. The wife tells the daughter she needs to change her outfit she had put on, the daughter gets upset, and then she gives the other daughter cereal. She then puts on her makeup while her husband puts on his tie in a tiny bathroom together. They both seems annoyed and although you can't hear what they are saying because of the background music playing, you can tell they are exchanging mean words to one another. The wife then goes down to clean a big mess in the kitchen, utters something under breathe and they all walk out the a van in a hurry. The kids look really pretty sad and the couple starts to argue about the way he is driving while she is putting on her lipstick. They park the car and run into a building and start smiling and laughing with another couple inside. The background music then stops playing and you see the family of four singing praise music in a church service really loudly - the man is holding his hands up and the wife has her eyes closed. The following verse appears on the screen from James 3: 9-10:
"With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
Would you want all the conversations/words you have spoken the past month to be played before an audience or your church or your family? I know I wouldn't it and I claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ. This conference was a reminder to me that words are huge in our culture...we speak them, read them, worship with them, study them, write stories with them, parent/discipline with them, and most of all can CONTROL them! My prayer after this conference is that I will remember the affects of using words in my everyday life and the importance of the Word of God in that life. I want to be an example to my children and just like that family on the video clip, we cannot use the same tongue in the morning before church in a harsh manner and then worship God with it an hour later. We cannot say everything on our rotten hearts to people we love and just assume they can forget them in theirs. For those fellow young mothers out there, speak to your children out of love and know that they are listening always - even when they can't talk. Your are their example and the relationships you have with others are teaching them how to relate to people. Stop and listen how many times in a day you use the words "I" and "want" - I am using them way too much. This world is not about us! If you get nothing more from this post then to discover I am a Republican and a reformed follower of Christ, I hope you will use your tongue in ways that glorify His Word and His Kingdom, not our selfish little kingdoms in our own little lives! I plan to watch the conference videos again so I can study those scriptures more and realize in His Word how to use words like He did. I praise God already for His Grace because I know I will not succeed each day, but I must press on and trusting Him for help. Ask God to reveal to you words in your life and how he can help you use them, I know I will.
More funny stories and pictures about the Hanson Crew tomorrow...
Comments
I am going to a 'Time out for Women' conference for our Church in a few weeks and I am so excited! It sounds similar to your conference. Ours is for women only and is geared towards our role as women, mothers and wives and how we can better ourselves, as well as grow closer to our Heavenly Father. It is just one day, but I am so excited to be able to go (without kids!) and focus on how to be a better person!
We will certainly not be perfect but if we just remember, each morning starts a new day and we can re-commit ourselves to doing better.
Great post!