Yes, more on teeth!

"There is one who speaks rashly, like the thrust of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Proverbs 12:18

I recently heard someone speak on this proverb in reference to anger...saying our outbursts of anger, the words we unleash, are like a bomb that explodes. We move through the bomb, but we leave shrapnel everywhere in those around us.

Well, a bomb exploded this past Tuesday...and, it was in my mouth..

After letting Mae choose when she would complete her homework, she decided to go ahead and work on it as I was fixing dinner while in her purple princess dress and highskills (her adorable word for highheels)....not because she was eager to do it (I feel certain she wanted to continue dress-up), but because she wanted to be able to go to a birthday party the next day after school......which is why after I read her the directions she flung herself to the floor in an Oscar-winning dramatic performance/ meltdown saying "I CANNOT DO IT!! I DON'T KNOW HOW!"...And, then it was my turn to explode...As I turned to put my cooking spoon down and "attempt" to help my girl, I clenched my teeth, trying to keep myself under control, and the explosion literally happened in my mouth...as I clenched, I felt a little shard of my tooth chip off...yes, tooth shrapnel from my explosion of frustration in my mouth....

Go back three weeks, Mae's second day of school...Michael accidently dropped Mae off at the wrong entrance to her building (long story, but she told him to drop her there). That night over dinner he asked her how she found her way to the classroom, she replied with, "when I don't know where I am going, I just sit down until I know which way I need to go." At that moment, my mouth dropped, and as I have often done before with Mae, I thought how profound this little gift of ours can be...without thinking twice, she spoke spiritual truth to each of us at that table...simply and sweetly, the reminder... When we don't know which way to go, we need to sit and wait in Him, praising Him for being the Way, until we hear His path for us.

You see that is why there is a small chip in my tooth...I was trying to do it alone...Mae's "I DON'T KNOW HOW" reflected my own I-don't-know-how of that moment, that reflection frankly made me angry; I just saw my insufficiencies, not my abundunt sufficiencies in Christ... I was leaning on my own cripling capabilites leaving me frustrated...

But, as I prayed later and listened to the Kingdom voice of my Father, I heard, "when I don't know where I am going, I just sit down until I know which way I need to go." Instead of our two frustrated spirits bumping up against one another (Mae's rather loudly; mine bottled up, but just as forceful and wounding), I was to invite Him to be with us using the love language of the One who had already spoken to her in the hallways of school...I was to sit down on the floor next to my Mae, and softly say I hear you, I understand you, I am with you, let's figure out which way to go...

His Kingdom voice is authoritative, an authority that is freeing for us...just as we tell our children not to touch a hot stove, so their finger won't get burnt and they have full use of their hand; our Father asks us to listen to his voice so that we to can reach our utmost, not cripled by our own weaknesses.

And, as we grow in this recognition of His voice, Matthew 11:30 begins to lovingly make sense... "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Life as a Christ-follower will most certainly have suffering, but the understanding of our Father's voice and the power of Jesus' name bring clarity and peace.

So, I rejoice in thanksgiving over the chip in my tooth because although you might not be able to see it I can feel it every time I gently run my toungue across my teeth, and I am reminded of the Giver of Life who transforms my gaps making me whole, my desperate need of childlike faith, my need for learning, understanding, and trusting my Father's voice, and the loving authority of the One who made me for His glory....the beautiful art and privilege of losing myself for His praise.

And, I know this picture has nothing to do with this story, but man, those kids are cute!