Words are Everywhere…

Words are…everywhere…powerful…multi-purpose…life building…life changing…uplifting…crippling…

 

Did you ever stop and really think about W.O.R.D.S….like really think about them?  Maybe I think about weird things sometimes… but the other day I found myself in deep thought about words.  Doesn’t our world revolve around them?

 

Think about it…   Words are everywhere.  We speak them, read them, write them, hear them, experience them, even decorate with them…all day.every day… I get the basic reality of this folks…it’s our language for goodness sake… but I’m talking deeper than that…  hang with me here…

 

They can be used to lift someone up with encouragement or tear someone down {um…am I the only one that has a hard time holding my tongue once and a while?}.  Notes of encouragement, a text in the middle of the day to say hello {heck…even just one emoji in a text can make someone smile}, a quick email to catch someone up on what’s been going on, sharing a post on FB with someone you know that would enjoy it.  What about a homemade card with a handwritten note inside?  You know.. .that old fashioned thing that people did that you have to put a stamp on and go send?  Better than a bill in the mailbox!

 

Ever receive “hate mail”?  it’s real, folks… I’ve gotten some nasties from someone that used to be in my life.  Remember that little saying you’d blurt out on the playground in 3^rd grade?  “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”?  Words can really sting and people don’t forget words. They can forgive them but it’s unlikely they’ll ever really forget them.  Thankfully these words from the Armor of God are a reminder of how to protect ourselves from people like that. The Word of God gives us HOPE and instruction for life.  Other words challenge our beliefs and even attack them.  Have you ever experience hatred for the Words you held in your heart and soul as the only absolute truth in this world? I have…it’s not pretty.  How do you respond?  What words do you choose?  Do you guard your tongue and love that person that just attacked you or attack back with words that will hurt them and attack what they believe?  I mean, debates are good, discussions are good, when there is mutual respect involved for each other differences, but when the words get u.g.l.y how do you respond?

 

They provide a compass to get us from point A to point B, physically…through directions…{these days by siri or GPS on a smart phone most likely}.  Does anyone else remember when we had a huge atlas and we had to map out our route?…actually write the words down!  It really wasn’t ‘that’ long ago, friends!  Directional words such as this often result in a conflict between hubby and wife on road trips when hubby won’t stop and ask for directions.  Although, honestly, my hubby could get us anywhere with his eyes closed where I could get lost in my own driveway.

 

Hearing a song sung on the radio or downloaded on our iPhone;  Think about if you hear a song from long ago… you are immediately brought back to the memory of let’s say, you’re 8^th grade dance {with your puffy 80’s dress and hair in all it’s glory!!!} or the song you danced to at your wedding {In Your Eyes, by Peter Gabriel} or your first concert {Mine was Brian Adams…of course there was also the Twisted Sister concert that brings back some interesting memories!}. Some songs lyrics are so powerful and evoke such emotion in us…you know…the ones that got you through a dark time in your life.  Kari Jobe wrote a song called, “I am Not Alone” and every time I hear the words I am brought back to a moment in time when I was on the beach in Italy and had just received some devastating news via email but the words were so comforting and were a reminder that I wasn’t walking through it alone.

Here are the words… let them sink in…

When I walk through deep waters
I know that You will be with me
When I’m standing in the fire
I will not be overcome
Through the valley of the shadow
I will not fear

 I am not alone
I am not alone
You will go before me
You will never leave me

In the midst of deep sorrow
I see Your light is breaking through
The dark of night will not overtake me
I am pressing into You
Lord, You fight my every battle
And I will not fear

 I am not alone
I am not alone
You will go before me
You will never leave me

 You amaze me
Redeem me
You call me as Your own

 You’re my strength
You’re my defender
You’re my refuge in the storm
Through these trials
You’ve always been faithful
You bring healing to my soul

 I am not alone
I am not alone
You will go before me
You will never leave me

 

History was originally passed down through spoken words…then recorded in words… words carved in stone…words written on handmade paper with a calligraphy pen and ink, carried by horse & wagon.  And then the invention of the printing press to continue to carry on history… typewriters… computers… all for the sake of words and communication!

 

Words spoken by God leading to the writing of the bible.  Those are the words I am MOST thankful for by far! 

 

Do you journal or scrapbook?  We record our feelings in words in a journal or recount a special memory in a scrapbook.  I am a bit scrapbook crazy.. those of you that know me know that my nickname is “scrappinchick”.  I’ve had a custom scrapbook business for years where people hire me to take their pictures and create a beautiful art filled album for them.  I’ll do a post someday about it and show you my “Scrap Shack”.  What about a picture?  They tell a story without words… they are so powerful.  I always recommend telling the story of every picture in scrapbooks so that future generations know the story but the old saying is true… a picture says a thousand words.  There is journaling…some people journal on paper and some of us journal on our computer, much like this blog where we share our words with others.  My kids each have an album of sorts full of letters.  Each year on their birthday I write them a letter that talks in detail of their year.   When I am long gone someday I want them to have those words.  I want them to read how much I loved them, what that year was full of for them.  It’s all they’ll have when I am gone and their memories of those years fade over time.

 

What is Social media mainly?  Words…  words made in to stories, memes, quotes, etc.  Some platforms are for short and sweet words, like Snap-chat or Twitter, whereas others like FB leave room to say much more.  Social media has exploded our capabilities to communicate with people around the world and stay on top of what is going on in our family & friends lives without EVER picking up a phone… seriously… who even pics up the phone anymore? Here’s my “opening day” FB post…

 

Let’s talk “to do” list {I’ll spare you all a picture of mine}.  A list of words telling me everything I need to do… oh lordy…it’s long and I add to it faster than I cross things out.  There is also the “honey do” list which my guy loves to have handed to him as soon as he gets home from the airport on a Friday night.  My day revolves around constant glances at the words on my to do list… and it’s ever so amusing when hubby texts me from whatever city he’s in and asks what I did today…ha…where do I even start?

 

And who doesn’t LOVE a baby’s first words?  Who doesn’t love them learning how to talk and the silly way they pronounce words?  Melts my heart!  A train is a twain, right?

 

The hard words mixed with good words…bittersweet… the words spoken at a funeral telling of that person’s legacy.  Hard to hear yet sweet to hear.  That rang so true for me when we said goodbye to my father-in-law nearly 6 months ago.  It was the saddest day but also there were so many words of joy as people talked about his life and legacy.  TAPS blared from trumpets at the cemetery… no words…but the melody spoke a million words of the sacrifice he made to this country in his 30+ years of service in the U.S. Army.

 

The happy life changing words… “Will you marry me?”…{we are assuming she said, “yes”}   “Honey, I’m pregnant”…  or “I’m happy to help”… or “Honey, we won the lottery” {I think we are all waiting for that ship to come in}

 

The words that reveal secrets or information that shatter your world and change everything about your life as you knew it.  How the doctor calls and says “you have  _______ {insert disease name}”…  “The jury has found ___ guilty”…  The vet walks in and says, “your dog has cancer”… “I suggest you amputate his foot“…  “I’m sorry….but_______…  How do you recover from these difficult life changing words… The words that leave you breathless with the feeling that you just had a 1000# brick hurled at your chest? You just have to surround yourself with  love… with people that breathe life in to you.

 

Recipes…thank heaven for recipes…  words that lead to something delicious on the table, like The Best Chicken Salad Ever or a yummy snack, like Energy Bites, in the lunchbox.  And then you have to scan your pantry, reading the words on what you’ve got and then make your grocery list.  Yes, I still use a paper grocery list {and while I am confessing I might as well tell you that I use a paper calendar too}.

One type of word I cringe at are the ones that come in the form of a BILL.  Yep..  those words spell out exactly what I owe, to whom I owe it and when they expect to get it from me.  Anyone a fan of bills?  I think not.

 

The words that make up instructions and ingredients on a supplement so we can use them safely… love…love…love my supplements…

How about the email full of words reminding you it’s time to check in for your flight for a vacation that couldn’t get here soon enough like my trip to Italy? I was a happy camper when those words arrived! And the sign of the place I wanted to see most!

 

Do we need words for entertainment? yep!  apps…Words With Friends?…that’d be a bummer without words.  Board games? {yes, some of us still have the ones from the good ‘ol days}.

Words declare extremely important things such as my son’s love for bacon {serious bacon addiction in our house}.

 

Anyone decorate with words?  Seriously… they have been the crazy the past few years…..it started out as those cliché words “Faith, Hope, Love, Dance, Pray, Sing, Laugh” and took off from there.  Wooden signs are now everywhere, barnwood or wood pallets, covered in words, in quotes, in encouragement, to make a statement…we have a lot of them in our home and one thing that hits me about these signs with just a single.word. is how powerful just a single.word.can.be.

 

 

T-shirts…  can I get an amen?  Does hubby really NEED 75 t-shirts (I am probably underestimating here so let’s bump that up to 100, shall we?) that are covered in words?  Seriously?  Can we really say no to $5 graphic T’s at Old Navy?  Of course if you work at a place with uniforms you’ve got words on your shirt to identify the place of business and probably a shiny little name tag on your shirt so all the world knows who you are.. that’s a good thing if you’ve done a good job but if you mess up the toppings on someones burger or choose the well done option instead of “mooing” you may wish they didn’t know your name.

 

Books.  Thank God for people who like to write.  Does it ever blow your mind when you walk in to a Barnes & Noble or a library and see all the books…filled with words… words on every possible topic or interest you can imagine.  I miss the days of my kids little fingers flipping through those sweet books and pointing at each word as they tried to pronounce it.  Now their faces are in e-readers or their ipads to “read”

Now, of course if we are talking school books, then that leads to the use of the word HOMEWORK, and, well, you probably won’t find many that respond with much of a positive attitude towards that word.  Even looking at math work gives me hives!

Research?  Like how many hours a week can I pour myself in to reading about essential oils? I simply can not learn enough.

 

What about the words that are UNSPOKEN, UNWRITTEN, UNHEARD?… you know.. the smiles exchanged, tears of joy, tears of sadness flowing down one’s cheek, the disapproving look of a mom when her child has just made an absolute mess, how about the eye roll from your teenager or the sassy little 5 year old looking at you with hands on her hip?  Don’t those all speak a thousand words without hearing a word at all?  If I only had a picture of my daughter rolling her eyes… folks….she’s made an art form out of it.

 

So, you get my point… words are not just our language…they.are.our.life.

Can you imagine a world blank from words of any kind?

 

What is your favorite form of words?  What are the best words you’ve ever heard?  What are the worst?