Just saying..

I hate getting shots.

Or getting blood taken.

Basically anything that requires a needle being shoved into my flesh,

I am not a fan of.

So I completely understood Gibson's reluctance to get his vaccines,

And by reluctance
 I mean wedging himself between the wall and the exam table,

letting out blood curdling screams.

He was scared
 and everyone within a 5 mile radius knew it.

Finally after I was able to reason with him,

and by reason with him,

I mean bribe him with ice cream,

obviously.

He climbed up next to me on the table.

He held on so tight to my arm,

tears spilling down his face.

The nurse gave him the shots.

My heart broke for him.

I was mumbling something about it

"it will hurt a little bit but help a whole lot."

and other unhelpful drivel I picked up from watching too much public television.

But the nurse,

she looked straight into his eyes,

and with compassion and tenderness

 even after spending so much time on something that should have taken only a few minutes,

she said:

"I know you were scared, but you are brave.

You are the bravest boy I have seen all day."

And then the clincher.

"I am going to tell the ladies at the front desk to let you pick out 2 toys."

He gave her a little smile.

The ladies at the front desk echoed her words..

"Brave boy."

By the time Court asked how the visit was,

Gibson replied

"I was so brave. I didn't even cry."

Then wrinkling up his nose.

"Mama, did I cry a little bit?"

Umm, what?

The fact is her words of encouragement were so strong,

so perfectly placed,

he nearly forgot about the 1/2 hour of terror,

and remembered her words.

"You were scared, but you were brave."

Today in a world where words are everywhere,

You can drop your opinion and hundreds will be exposed to it,

with a click of a button.

We place less value on our words.

We delivering crushing criticism,

scalding insults

and then cover them up with a tidy "just saying".

As if the weights of our words evaporate with that hollow disclaimer.

Your words can either bring life or death,

encouragement or pain,

They are powerful.

Even the truth spoken without love is damaging.

There is no "just saying."

Encouragement isn't empty powder puff words.

It isn't nonsense cheering.

It's instilling courage in people

when they can't see it.

It's showing the truth in a way that helps them see past the current events.

Helps them believe what could be.

We have a voice.

A voice that people we don't even realize are listening too.

Are we instilling courage in them? Are we speaking truth in love or spite?

Are we so impressed with our wit and snark we miss the bones we are crushing with them?

That has been my project lately,

weighing my words,

because my words have weight.

Trying to speak into my kids lives in a way that makes them know their potential,

their worth,

who they are in Christ.

that they may be scared.

But they are brave.