Me and My Big Mouth

There is a scripture in the Bible that talks about using our mouths to praise the Lord and speak bad of Him at the same time. The two just don’t mix, they don’t go together, and they don’t belong together.



This is true also of how we talk to or about others as well. It’s not good that we use our mouth to ask our parents for all the things we want and then yell at them the next time for not getting it our way.


We need to use our mouths to praise the Lord and our parents as well. To honor them as God tells us to. We may not agree with what God or our parents are doing but we can always find things to be thankful for and praise them.


Things to be thankful for:
The home they furnish us to live in
The electricity that they pay for
The phone they have that you can use
Transportation to and from school and everywhere else
Tiredlessness nights of working extra hours to pay bills and feed their families
The shampoo in the bathroom, the food in the kitchen
The free smile they have for
The comfort they supply when needed
A needed hug to tell you you’re still love when you make mistakes
The advice they handout that often came to them thru hard lessons they are trying to keep you from going through
The treat they bless you with once in awhile no matter how big or small

Showing respect to others is an important characteristic we need to develop. We are without excuse. We can’t blame the kid down the street or the adult at the store for not having it so we don’t need it either. We need to be responsible for our own actions because when we stand before Jesus some day we are the only ones that will be required to answer for the idle, bad, hateful, rude, thoughtless words we once said or for even those we should have said.


We need to turn our big mouths into one that is full of encouraging words of admiration, esteem, admiration for our parents and God instead of the “give me, give me world” we try to live in.


God knows it’s not easy to control the tongue but He knows it is possible. Our tongue is connected to the things we store in our hearts. If we store selfishness, hatred, anger, resentment, and bitterness that is what is going to come out on our tongue.


Take control of your tongue now before it takes control over you. Life isn’t as bad as we make it out to be so stop dwelling on the negative and look for the good. Where would I be today if I continued to dwell on the hatred I had for the girl who caused my epilepsy. I’ll tell you where, I would still be having stress seizures and never would have been declared “not disabled” anymore. My cancer and the pain I feel every hour of the day gives me a target to dwell on the negative of “Why me?” but where does that get me? Only further in pain in my spirit as well as my body.

Stop! Think first. Speak second. Think about what you say before you say it and you’ll be amazed at the stuff you can cut out of your life giving you peace within and a happiness that can’t be bought with money or material things.


Make a list of the good things you have going for you in your life. Yes there are some if you would truly look. Read it frequently when Satan starts to lead you down the path of ungratefulness. Use your tongue to encourage others not as a weapon to hurt.






Good things in my life:
My cancer is in remission
I have a job
I have a family that cares, a husband that supports me thru all my life’s challenges
I love the color of the blue sky with the blanket of green grass underneath it
I can walk and talk on my own
I have free smiles to give away
I am rich not because of money but because of Jesus being in my life
My house isn’t a mansion or a million dollar estate but it keeps me warm and safe and it’s full of love
I have parents who have worked very hard to achieve what they have for me and the family
My daughter is a hardworking woman passing on to her children the blessings a mom has to offer
My grandkids are tucked away in my heart in a warm and caring spot that longs to see them know Jesus as I know Jesus


The list goes on because I keep adding to it, looking for things to put on it. That is what you need to be doing with your big mouth, listing the good and waiting patiently for the bad in your life to get better. Bad times are used to make us grow, to teach us what we need to learn, to get our attention so we will pay attention to our teacher, Jesus Christ. Instead of asking “why me?” use your mouth to ask “What can learn from this?”

Hard times are the classrooms where we learn the most. They are not a weapon to be used to beat someone over the head with wondering why they put us through what they did, or why didn’t they do this or that for us….why….why….why?


Nope, we need to change our why to what. Our out of control mouth to a controlled tongue. An ungrateful heart to a thankful heart. Do this and you’ll be way ahead of a lot of adults and you will find a peace in your spirit that is awesome and long-lasting.






They Call Me, Grandma

Kid DEES~~~It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.

I wish I could say the world out there is full of kind and gentle people but I would be lying. Unfortunately kids often get bullied at school and it doesn’t always end there, adults do it to each other as well.

Frequently it’s done simply because someone is labeled “different” than all the others by the standards the bully has chosen to measure them by. They use all sorts of excuses like a girl who doesn’t wear make-up or own a cell-phone like everyone else. The constant picking and pecking and shoving of others around gives great pleasure to the ones who are doing it as it brings tears to the one being hurt.

After enough beatings we often begin to think it really is because we are not like everyone else. We begin to doubt who we are inside and it begins to hold us back. We can’t play the part of the bully and pick on ourselves for not being “like everyone else.” Honestly take a good look around. Are these bully’s really as great as they think they are. What has their makeup got them? What has their ownership of a cell-phone achieved them? The right to bully? The right to pick on others? No way!

Know who you are inside. God created each of us to be different, unique, and worthy of His love. It is by His standards we need to go by in our hearts. The bully at school may never stop, in fact, if they think they are losing their game they will only increase their pressure. Although harsh words can pierce even the strongest of hearts it’s important to stay strong and pride yourself in who you are, not who they are trying to make you out to be.

No one is perfect, we all have our areas where we could use some improvement but that is up to us to decide not the one doing the browbeating. Learn to walk away and to stand strong. Make up your mind before hand that you will not let it wound you to the point you begin to make the mistake of actually listening to those harassing you.

For now you may be their target physically or emotionally to pick on but you don’t have to remain their target as long as you stay strong. You will have your weak moments when it can really get to you but don’t allow yourself to lie down to be their doormat to walk over. Walk away, stay strong, and lean on those worthy of the title called, “friend.”

© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

They Call Me, Grandma

WTLB~~~Always Beware of Satan's Shortcuts and stay away from them

If there ever was a shortcut to be found, people will do it. When my mom was recovering from her stroke in a nursing home every day I would try to find a new route to and from the home. In other situations, whether trying to break up the monotony or not, the quickest route to the store, gas station, work or wherever is the best route. Often it pays to take a shortcut but that is not always the case. For example, there are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. There’s not a measuring stick we can put up against the wall to measure how much we have grown. There is no chart to go by stating the national averages of where we should be and when. We get our growth thru the turmoil’s and hard times in our lives. Growing daily with time and experience.

Satan tries to convince us that taking shortcuts is the best way to go but when we do it his way we often find ourselves needlessly bounced around on rough roads running into one dead end after another. As appealing as the shortcuts in life may appear we need to ask ourselves what does the long-term beauty look like? Think before you leap into anything. God’s road can be rough too. Three steps forward can sometimes feel like we end up two steps back but there are no dead ends as each path leads us to a closer walk with Jesus. Forever moving us forward in our spiritual maturity in Christ, praise the Lord!

No one has ever gone from preschool to 12th grade on a shortcut why do we think we can spiritually. We may skip a grade here and there like my sister did or finish early but this is anything but a shortcut as some travel in faster speeds than others in a precision only they are gifted with. Don’t let Satan trick you, stick to the road, stick with God.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing