Out of the Mouth......

One of my favorite evenings of the week is Sunday. Jason is usually at youth group and the kids and I have a laid back evening. We have a simple supper, the kids get their bathes early, and then head to bed to watch tv for a little bit before going to sleep. I just enjoy the time of relaxation with the kids before we begin our busy week.

Tonight was a typical Sunday evening. The kids and I were all in the kitchen warming up leftovers for supper. Each of the kids thought they should already have theirs warm. Then an on slaught of requests...."can you open this for me?" "Is mine done yet?" "Can I have something else?" "Can I have a drink?".....I am trying to meet each request and not loose my patients with them. Then, as Hunter is getting ketchup out of the fridge the door closed on his hand and I thought I heard him say a curse word....It was like a scene in a movie, you know when you hear the sound of a record scratching and everything comes to a screeching hault! I said, "What did you say?" Hunter's response was, "I will go to time out." I said no you need to tell me what you just said. He then repeated it. (Still not sure if I should have had him repeat it) Then, I asked him where he heard that. "I don't know" is all I got out of him. I gently but firmly explained that we do not talk that way and said, " I better not hear that agian MR!"

I was quite surprised by this "slip of the tongue". His dad and I don't talk like that. I really had no idea where he got it. But, thought that it was just a one time deal and he knew he wasn't supposed to use that word. After dinner was over and I was cleaning up the kitchen Hunter asks, "Do we have school tomorrow?"  I answered, "yes" and then he said it AGAIN!!!

 I knew that this was a problem. What if he went to church and said that?  He said, "I am sorry mommy, I forgot." So, like any good mother would do.....I put soap in his mouth. It was just a tiny bit of dish soap. I said, "I know you forgot, but I need to help you remember." 

Then, I thought about how I use my mouth. I may not say curse words. But, I do use it to yell at my kids often. How many times have I said to myself and them, "Mommy is not going to yell anymore." Then when I get stressed and don't feel like I am being heard I find myself yelling again. Somedays I think all my kids hear is Charlie Brown's teacher until I yell at them, and then they really her me. But, is that how God intended for me to use my mouth? I then thought of the passage in James 3 when he talks about using our mouth to "praise God and curse men....this cannot be" Part of me wished that my Heavenly Father would put soap in my mouth to help me remember not to use my mouth to yell at my kids. It is and will be a hard habit for me to break. But, I want to use my mouth to encourage and build my kids up, not tear them down. I know I cannot do it on my own.

I am always amazed at how God uses my children to teach me......