Whether we want to admit it or not...
We all want to learn.
And, we are all students of something.
Being a mother of four means lots of teaching...
LOTS!
As well as innumerable opportunities to face the fact...
I might have more to learn than them.
And, sometimes unlearning can be the trickiest part of all.
Our Charli is growing by leaps and bounds.
Finally her speech is catching up with her thoughts.
Quiet moments are often unfound here at The Rose.
Pastor and I spend most of our interactions with her...
In training mode.
Though she is being taught proper grammer...
She most often chooses her language of "baby talk."
She has little desire to unlearn the old.
For her...
It takes less thought, less effort, and it's what she is most comfortable speaking.
Just like any parent...
We know it is our job to teach her how to speak correctly.
The other day...
She was trying to communicate with her "Charli-made words."
And, I was correcting her for the 1,000th time.
In that moment The Holy Spirit sparked my heart.
I realized...
How often we as people are guilty of enabling, "baby talk."
You know the babbles that come from a struggling heart and mind.
Statements made in false humility.
"Lazy talk..."
Tiny, degrading remarks about themselves or others...
Lies about who they are, their future or who they can become.
It was made clear to me that if we aren't proactive...
We can become guilty of enabling and fostering "premie" like mindsets.
It is so easy to fall prey to this kind of thinking.
Partnering with the wounded in their unbelief...
Looking at stories that have truly struggled...
Choosing to over-sympathize instead of empower.
Leaving them with no new hope than they started with.
We are called to be the light in the dark...
The HOPE OF GLORY dwells in us.
If we really believe this...
Hope should make it's way out of our mouths...
And into the hearts of the hurting.
Wouldn't it be crazy if I never corrected the words that came from Charli's mouth...
Simply because of her past?
It would be ridiculous to rationalize that training her to rethink each word...
Is simply too much for her to bear...
Given all that she has had to overcome.
Or, if our rationale as her parents was...
"I don't want to press into that, unsettle her, or stir up hardship."
"She has been through so much...
All things considered she is doing quite well."
We are to ALWAYS teach in love...
No matter the season we are journeying through.
No matter the deaths that have to take place.
For we know...
Spring will surely come again.
These last two years...
I have been learning more and more...
The value of words.
I do believe the greatest weapon for and against us...
Often lies in the power of the tongue.
It is our privilege as sons and daughters of The King...
To use our words to bestow life.
To realize I am most powerful in reflecting His heart...
When my mind believes the song He is singing over my story.
It's like the oxygen mask on the airplane.
I have to breathe in the truth that I am His royal princess...
I am a daughter of The King.
He is well pleased with me.
My heart has been changed by those two lines.
And, His glorious invitation...
Is for all to live out of these truths.
We serve a God that is NOT distant...
He is our DADDY!
It breaks His heart when we enable baby talk...
Choosing to live in disbelief in regards to who He says we are...
Speaking word curses over ourselves and partnering with lies.
It may seem like a ridiculous analogy...
But, it convicted me.
Just like with our little learner...
I have to be diligent to teach her...
Not just what she wants to learn...
Not just what is comfortable or convenient.
But, that which transforms her way of thinking.
Most days...
It's almost never easy...
And, yet...
He is always busy making it worth it!
"Let God transform you, by changing the way you think!"
Romans 12:2
