My Quest to Speak Life

Every year, my church hosts a few different conferences. Each one unique. Each one impactful. Each one targeted for specific groups. Next weekend we will host our women's conference, "Speak Life." We've been trying to zero in on a few songs that will really speak to our women during worship. Songs that will speak life, that will connect with each woman.

We found a great song by Kari Jobe. If you haven't listened to her, please do. Her songs are real, authentic, and simple. I have been listening to her CD pretty much nonstop since I got it. On my drive home on Monday, I was listening and singing along. I was thinking about the women's conference and what exactly it means to speak life. I started thinking through my day at work. I was nice. I was kind. I interacted with people. But did I speak life?

It started to hit me that I am not intentional about my interactions with people. I make a connection with people at work because I want them to be loyal customers. However, do I ever intentionally speak life into the people around me? How is speaking life different from the everyday interactions? Is it? Should it be? Or should it be an automatic part of my everyday life?

Unfortunately, I think the negative words are much more automatic. I quickly berate the slow driver in front of me or think about how ridiculous an outfit is or wonder what so and so was thinking. The negative seems to slip off the tongue so effortlessly. James wrote about the power of the tongue.

A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything--or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue--it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. James 3:5-8 The Message

He goes on to say that we praise God with our tongue and then turn around and curse our neighbor. The tongue is powerful and often times deadly.

Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." I love how The Message puts it: "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--you choose." We all have a choice every day. What will my words accomplish today?

Intentional. Purposeful. Kind. Empowering. Uplifting. Loving. Those are the words I want to speak. My goal: Speak life into the people around me, whoever they may be, and report daily on what God is doing. Wish me luck!

Silence...Is It Really Golden?

I discovered something this morning. I was relaxing at home, getting ready to watch one of my Bath and Body Works girls on Price Is Right, when the world went silent. More accurately, the TV did. And the fan. And the million other little noises that fill the silence. Suddenly I was left in silence and all I could think of was how to fill it.

My world is polluted with sound. Even if the TV is off and there is no music playing, the dog next door is yapping or the baby on the other side is crying. I work in a busy mall with constant talking and laughing and music. Noise is the soundtrack of my life.

At some point, the soundtrack started to drown out the dialogue...my inner dialogue. My conversations with God. My daydreams. My self-evaluations. Was it intentional? Am I running for the silence? Or is the silence just escaping my grip?

I would like to claim innocence. Life is just happening and the noise comes with it. I have no choice in the matter. Unfortunately, that would be a lie. I flood my life with sound when I should be hitting mute. I turn on the TV for background noise when I am cooking or eating or writing...the list goes on. I rarely drive in silence. Instead music is blasting to distract me from the traffic. There's always a fan going to provide the necessary white noise. I'm overwhelmed by the silence. My mind starts to wander and I once again revert to noise.

A friend's Facebook status last week caught my attention. "Be still and know that He is God. What has to change in your life for you to be still?" Apparently, I have to get sick. You would think I would learn the lesson already. Be still, Kristin. Forget the noise. Forget the distractions. Be still. Instead I get hit with a cold and literally end up in bed all day. Still I opt for a movie to fill the empty space.

Why do I run from the quiet? Why am I more at home in a room so loud you can't hear yourself think than I am in the calm of my room? It's in the stillness that truth is revealed. It's in the quiet moments, the moments free of distraction, that dreams are built. It's in the silence that I hear that still, small voice beckoning me closer. Drawing me deep into His arms. Whispering His words. Singing His lullaby.

The reality is that life is full of noise. I cannot escape the everyday sounds, the music of the world around me. You will not see me wearing earplugs to silence the world around me. I will however embrace the moments. I will allow myself the luxury of complete silence and be amazed at how much I can hear.