Thanks for the date, yesterday!

We had a great time and I was very happy to enjoy the day with my dear children, like that. You made it possible. I know that you don't really read your blog, but I had such a time with fixing my blog today. I thought it would take me 2 seconds to clear up the gadget on my blog and make it do what I wanted it to do. I took 20 or 30 minutes fixing it and I went to my tablet to pat myself on the back for good work and you know what I found. Your link wasn't working on any of the blogs! AAAACCCCCCCHHHHH! Stuff like that makes me soooooooo mad! I almost threw my tablet on the ground and stomped it. I got through church okay. I got to fix it when I got home, but try, try, try again is such a hard thing for me! Check it out. I worked so hard on it and you never even look at it.

sharpening the uses of our tongues? Can we? May we? Might we?

There are many exercises that I use with the babies to make their tongues more able. As I feed them, I do little mouth games with my tongue... "make a fishface" or "twirl your tongue". I try to implore them not to use harsh tones of voice to one another without reason. etc. Some of them eat it up and play with words and talk and tongue stuff and some do not. How to talk about one another is something that is a soul issue.
When it is our responsibility to use our tongues to direct others and to speak to the public, it is a sacred place before God. The fear of God is very important in such a place. Pray before you talk to people. The image of Nehemiah and his heart prayer before the Lord, remains in my mind. Pray before the questions. Pray before the answers. Ask others to pray for the use of your tongue in the public eye.
Laugh with those who laugh about your talk and take criticism well. See how your children {those whose job it is to decipher what you say} are percieving your words. They are asking us what we are doing and why. We are correcting their misconceptions with gentleness and kindness. When we must hollar about things, let it be about the things that are of a sinful sort. The things that will take them to hell are the things that will make us crazy and they must feel the difference between the things that are important the things that are essential. This is impossible, apart from the grace of God and the empowerment of the Spirit. He is able to make all grace accessible to us in our labors which are above us! Let us trust Him to empower and guide us to use His grace to do just that. amen
James 3:5 

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

James 3:6  

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth thewhole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

James 3:8  

But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

1 Peter 3:10  

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

Communicating and Carrying the Consciences of the Governed---thoughts

Oh, what a transparent Pastor to have governed us with his soul exposed to us, as much as he did.   There is a dearth of men who can and will lead and it is no wonder that there is so much chaos in the world.  I am remembering Pastor Martin,  who told us of the theory of "carrying the consciences of God's people".   I remember some of the streets of gold that we trod upon in our youthful zeal for a Theocentric family worship experience.


I am certainly rambling on about many things that have fallen by the wayside and I really have a very deliberate intent to direct you to right leadership skills;  should God ever call on you to lead anyone.  

This week we have seen good expressions of leadership from our new President and some poor expressions as well.   Yesterday, the President gathered many to announce a pick for the Judgeship.  He explained his purposes exquisitely.  I said to myself, he didn't really need to say that, but he really did.  You will find in your life that there is often a need to declare the obvious, to anyone who would follow you.   I am doing this, for this reason; is something that should often come out of your lips if you want anyone to follow you anywhere.

Pastor Martin would sneeze and take out his hanky and tell us why he had a hanky and not a tissue.  I would stick my hand in my throat to say "TOO much info!"  We love you Pastor and we would follow you anywhere why so much explanation?   I wriggled with uncomfortability, to know so much about a man whom I respected so much.

If we had visitors, it would take him an extra 20 minutes to explain why we are having consecutive readings with or without commentary and where we had been in the scriptures and why.   Why do they need to know, I wondered?  They are not coming back to visit us again!

I think that the stinky look on my face, whenever he would rant in such a way would make him go on worse and sometimes discuss the "Theory of 'Carrying the Consciences of God's People'": his terminology, my theorizing it...

Boiling it down to the brass tacks is,  when people know why you do what you are doing, it is harder for them to buck the systems.   They may complain, but it won't be because they can't see your point. Some may forgo complaining just to keep you from having to repeat your why, explanation again, and again and again.  

He wasn't a perfect man, at all, but he was a perfect example of seeing people's consciences as worthy of being carried.   I hope that our President can learn this early in his Presidency.  He is a good business man, but a poor conscience carrier.   God, send him help!!!