The Words of My Mouth

I receive daily devotional e-mails from Proverbs 31 Ministries, which I enjoy reading.  Today's devotional spoke to me in a different way than what the writer probably intended....actually it was the verse she used that struck me the most this day.  The Devotional Gossip used the verse "May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

That hit me like a ton of bricks today.  Why?  Because we had a rough start to our day today, and when we have a rough start I really struggle with my frustration toward my kids.  My words are not always pleasing, and I was feeling very bad about it as I dropped them off at school this morning.  I had 5 kids to get out the door (I babysit my niece and nephew, and some mornings I have them by 7:30).  Breakfast went fairly smooth, but then it was little things like spilled milk, boys banging on the piano, a tattler, a child upset and yelling at said boys banging on the piano, all the while I was trying to get a quick shower, dressed and dry my hair.  Then getting them all out the door with shoes on, back packs, coats, and into carseats, seatbelts, etc. while a couple kids, were screaming at other kids, who were causing problems in the van.  I demanded total silence for the ride to school!  Meanwhile, I was feeling poorly about my response to the child who yelled this morning at the naughty piano players...just because they yelled, didn't require me to yell back.  I was frustrated, my husband leaves early on Tuesday mornings, and while this normally doesn't cause so much disarray, today it did, and today I didn't handle it as well as I could have.

I need to work on my words...The subject of Gossip is a good one, and it is also a topic that speaks to me, but today, the verse in Psalm 19 spoke the loudest to me.  It was the reminder I needed, and it's a verse I plan to work on with my kiddos, too.