Speaking Life

I was listening to my favorite songs on Spotify. I finished one song, and of course, before the next could come up, the Spotify app played a commercial. Promotions for various songs went on, and the announcer was talking about how these songs would “give your spring break a boost!” Then they closed the commercial with a little segment of one of the songs, “Talk Dirty”. it had a catchy , but slightly annoying tune, and a neat instrumental part that got easily stuck in my head. The commercial faded away, and the next song in my playlist started, one of my favorites. I quickly forgot the annoying commercial song as the opening cords of the song started, and I got ready to enjoy this favorite. “Some days life feels perfect, other days it just ain’t workin.” My thoughts went back to the annoying commercial. It was saying that those songs would make life more perfect. How will this song compare? Here’s my paraphrase of the lyrics of the song : “We can turn a heart with the words we say. Mountains crumble with every syllable; hope can live or die. So speak life To the deadest darkest night. Speak life when the sun won't shine and you don't know why. Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted; Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,…love,…life. Speak life. Well it's crazy to imagine the words from our lips as the arms of compassion.” What a contrast! The world tells us to talk dirty, and live for yourself. But what does the Bible say? Our words are so important! They can be life! I talk all the time, but I rarely think of the eternal impact my words have. I want to encourage you to “Raise your thoughts a little higher, Use your words to inspire, Joy will fall like rain, When you speak life with the things you say. So Speak life.”

Green Bean War

I was watching two little kids, a boy (3 years old) and a girl (2 years old) one day. They were having a good time, until lunch-time came. Mom had made green beans and macaroni-and-cheese, my old favorites. I was happy, and the kids seemed happy too. They took one look at the mac n' cheese and were pointing at it, asking for it, with big smiles on their faces. Then the inevitable happened. I opened the lid to the green bean container. I heaped a pile into my bowl, and proceeded to give each of the kids a small helping. The little girl was okay for a while, but the boy didn't even look at his. Mom and I tried to explain to them that if they eat their green beans, they could have some mac n' cheese. That didn't seem to help them much. We finally told them to eat just one more bite of green beans, then they could eat the macaroni. But even that was too much. All we asked was one bite, and they could have their favorite food, with a cookie for dessert. But, no, it was too much to ask. For me, I was used to eating my greens. I ate mine all up, and had 2 bowls of macaroni before the kids finally gave up and left the table. It was sad to see that they thought that mac n’ cheese wasn't worth eating something they didn't like. Good thing I'd learned to eat my veggies a long time ago! Sometimes I act like those little kids. "God, that's too big. Let's just skip that part, and get to the good stuff." I let tiny little things get in the way of having God wants to give me! Why on earth do I have to be so stubborn? Those kids only had to get through 20 seconds of green beans, but they decided it wasn't worth it. They could have even enjoyed the beans like I now do! Trials are not desirable to us. But if that's what God uses to get me to a place where I can enjoy something else even better, what am I waiting for? There's no need to fight God. He knows that the green beans will actually help me, and can even be something l might enjoy, with His help. Praise God for the trials, because through them, He brings us something better.