Building Words

Shout those building words ...

Words ... they have such power.  Simple syllables strung together can break, heal, destroy and mend.

The world around us seems to have gone crazy with their words.  Have you heard some of the phrases dribbling out of mouths lately?  As a momma, how do I teach my lil' warriors to wield these weapons with grace and kindness? 

Honesty here, it's a battle I have fought as well.  Those sneaky syllables seem to slip out when I least expect it.   Discouraging remarks.  A raised frustrated tone.  Words ran rampant in our home, and not the best ones either.  

By no means am I an expert, but I am mom.  And we have been getting a tight grip on our words.  Wanna know how?  Happy you asked ...

Get creative.  March into battle.  Take it into our Treasure Time.

We call them building words, straight from Ephesians 4:29.  And yes, we sing that verse in our home as well.  (I'll video us and youtube it for you all if you would like :)   As for now, think of boys and mom singing a bit off key to our own tune with catchy hand signals ...

"Do not let any unwholesome talk, come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up ..."  

To teach the power of our words, we grabbed our wooden building blocks.  Any blocks will do ... We all took turns saying kinds things about mom.  I even joined in the fun.  With each kind thing, our tower built up, block after block, word after word.  Then, with one quick word of unkindness out of my mouth about myself, I hit the tower sending blocks scrambling to the floor.  Eyes popped wide.  Hearts ready to listen.

Words build up.  Words tear down.  Really, there is no in between.  This led to lively discussions around our home.  My boys, blesstheirhearts, really dig deep.  Is everything I say either building someone up or tearing them down?  What about hello?  (we concluded it was building someone up to say hello to them and greet them).  Can we really do this, ALL the time?  Would God give us this command if it was impossible?  And we dug together.

We encouraged building words by plopping marbles from our character jar each time we heard them.  We built each other up at every meal.  Mom sat with the boys as they practiced baseball and played together, catching them in wholesome words to mark it and celebrate.  When we oopsed, and tore down, we built them back up right away with 5 block building statements.  We created new habits ... of building others up.  

Its taken time and we're going strong.  As we grasp the power of our words, these boys and their momma might just change the world, syllable by syllable.

Impossible Turned The Key

"Impossible is one of God's favorite words."  - Max Lucado

Sitting here staring at a chunk of of metal ... a key.  How can a simple chunk of metal bring such utter joy, tears of thankfulness and squeals of elation ... simple, insert God.


When God shares its time to buy, we trusted.  When our credit score came back at 0 (yes, you read that correctly)  we continued to trust.  Insert God.


When the housing market began to soar, houses falling off the listing page in less than 24 hours, multiple offers, investors swooping into our part of the world,  offers tens of thousands above asking price.  Insert God.


Finding a beyond amazing home.  Breathe.  Putting in an offer in faith, before even stepping foot inside.  A yard for baseball dreams.  A home with extra rooms for butterfly gardens.  Every little touch I had dreamed but never asked out loud.  Insert God.


A simple offer to get our foot in the door, waiting to play the bid and bid again game.  More than ten showings in a single day.  Countless offers, many beyond ours, all cash.  Insert God.


Advisors telling us it could be a long wait, six to nine months to hear a final word.  Countless hoops to jump.  Doors needing to open at exact times.  Insert God.


Two months from our offer to the key.  Our family is singing a melody of perfect grace.


For those who have ever heard the word impossible mumbled over a dream.  For those of you stuck anywhere in anything.  For anyone with a dream, unrealized as of tonight.  For hearts burdened and longing for something more.  For friends who face a wall of impossibility.   Remember the key.  Insert God.

Delighted to Meet You!

Simply Sarah

Readers come. They splash. To be open, real, vulnerable. Life laid bare for people to wade through unseen in this land of blog. This place, my story, only a puddle. But if someone accidentally steps in, joy splashing on their boots, and walks away carrying the footprints ... then this place has served a purpose of glory, step by step ...

When I started to type instead of simply pen, a momma on the mission field, I never quite envisioned what might happen. I've been joyfully splashing ever since. New friends, it is a joy to meet you. But who am I? Who is the woman sitting in front of this computer screen, sharing her life, lessons learned?

Me in a nutshell ... think yummy cashew.

Spontaneous princess, learning to be all that God made me to be and all that my prince hubby deserves. A pillar (wobbly at times) to uplift and encourage as he pours into the nations. A model of God's love in my family armed with hugs, tickle wrestling and nose nuzzles.

Crazy and passionate warrior princess. Jeans and t-shirt gal that speaks God's Word and radically believes everything that it says. Think polka dot storm trooper armed with a serious weapon.

Arrow sharpener for the nations. Completely sold out on reaching an entire generation for Jesus. If you sit with me, you'll catch my fire passion to equip children today to reach the nations. Lived it, Seen it, Believe it, Teaching it.

Encourage wildly. Hug, Praise loud. Forgive even louder. Dance crazy. Choose joy. Blow bubble snakes. Snuggle. Ooze grace. Smell like cantaloupe. Simply Sarah.

And now my friends, would you take a moment, in the rush, in the mayhem of busy schedules and time ticking away, to introduce yourself to me. In the busy of life, I have come to realize, relationships dwindle and wither. To stop the blur of life whizzed by, to cultivate relationship, even here in this puddle of grace.

A name, a note, a tidbit of your life tucked into the comments. And across this unseen land of blog I can offer a hug (because in real flesh life, that is exactly what I would do)

Blur My Vision

I need to see like this. My eyesight blurred by Him. His grace and mercy the lens that filters the way I see the world. I sit here ache growing in my heart. An ache to live it loud. To live His love with absurd abandon.

Life only makes sense to me anymore through the lens of the Word. Soaking it in deep. To take all of what my Jesus commands and live it, breathe it, blur it into my world view.

My natural eyesight screams that I am foolish. How could I love someone that hurt me so? How could I give all that I am to share His love with one who might choose no? How could I trust Him to provide always? Do I dare to believe all of His promises are for me? To step out of this comfort bubble to obey His voice. Blur my vision. I only want yours.

I have lived a life of sharing Jesus, trash dumps, red light districts, indigenous huts of rainforest villages. Coming back to the United States, I see the same poverty. Wrapped in materialism, indifference, utter pain, a lack of Jesus, true poverty. To see this nation as you do Jesus. Blur my vision.

Wake us up. Wake us up to hear your heartbeat. To dare to come close enough to feel your breath on our spirits. To pick up the Word and realize it is truth and choose to live it. That when others look on me, my life blurs their vision.

Cantaloupe Flavored Life

The simple thought of cantaloupe, makes my mouth water, in the I think I might be sick sort of watering. Honestly, I cannot stand the flavor, the texture, the anything about this poignant fruit. Yet even this piece of the garden that my taste buds reject can teach.

The simple things. The small wonders. Eyes open wide, I learn.

A simple mixed fruit salad, tossed for us all to enjoy. Scoop up a slice of mango, a few red ripened strawberries, while maneuvering around the orange chunks of yuck. How many times have I done this, scooping only the favorites of life? Fork in hand to enjoy, the flavor startles ... darn cantaloupe, it tinges the whole salad.

As I sit with a bit of disappointment, a smile spreads across my face. Cantaloupe has a way of rubbing off on everything, flavoring an entire bowl with its fruity flavor. My life, can learn from the cantaloupe ways.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." - 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

My life, fragranced by God. Needs to be a bit more like cantaloupe. To mix in the world, tinging the whole salad with the aroma of grace and the flavor of His goodness.

Call me cantaloupe. I might just have a new favorite fruit.