[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Put a Lid on It - Girlfriends in God - November 23

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "thefamilyoffaith" <TheFamilyofFaith at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] Put a Lid on It - Girlfriends in God -
November 23
Date: 
Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:35:02 -0500


   
           
     
           November 23, 2011

                                Put a Lid on It

                                Sharon Jaynes 

                                Today's Truth

                                The tongue is a small part of the body,
but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a
small spark ... (James 3:5, NIV).

                                Friend to Friend

                                From the time I could hold a crayon in my
chubby little hand, I've enjoyed creating various works of art. For my
family and friends, my annual endeavors usually found their way under the
Christmas tree and into their hands. One year it was macramé hanging plant
holders woven with wooden beads. Another it was a menagerie of decoupage
wooden boxes. Then there were the years of framed cross-stitch, ceramic
Nativity sets, and quilted pig and chicken pillows.

                                When I was 17, it was the year of the
candle. Everyone from Grandma Edwards to my best girlfriends received
praying hands candles. For weeks I slaved over a hot stove, stirring melted
wax, meticulously centering the ten-inch wicks, and then slowly pouring the
red, green, or yellow molten material into an inverted mold in the shape of
praying hands. When the wax hardened, I burped the rubber mold and plopped
the hands onto the counter. My kitchen looked like a prostheses laboratory
with hands littering the counters.

                                I was just cooking up my last batch of
wax when the doorbell rang. I was having so much fun that I had forgotten
the time. I had a date at 7:30, and here I was in pink curlers and a
paraffin-covered sweatshirt. I rushed through the kitchen, leaped over my
dad, who had fallen asleep on the den floor in front of the television, and
threw open the door.

                                "Hi, Jim. Come on in," I said, out of
breath. "I'm not ready."

                                "So I noticed," he said with a grin.

                                "I was cooking candles and lost track of
time." 

                                "You were what?"

                                "Oh, never mind. Just come on in and have
a seat on the couch. I'll be ready in a minute."

                                I dashed to my room to change clothes,
take out the curlers and run a brush through my hair, swipe mascara through
my lashes, and place a hint of gloss on my lips. Jim sat uncomfortably on
the sofa, listening to my dad snore and Jackie Gleason yell at Ralph
Kramden. After about 15 minutes Jim smelled something burning from the
kitchen. He didn't want to call me for fear of waking up my dad. (Teenage
boys don't like to wake up their date's dad if they can help it.) Instead,
he tiptoed into the kitchen and discovered a pot on the stove with flames
shooting up about 18 inches in the air.

                                Sleeping dad or no sleeping dad, Jim
yelled, "Sharon! Whatever you were cooking is on fire!"

                                "Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed. "I forgot
to turn off the stove!" 

                                Just as I burst into the kitchen, Jim
threw a cup of water into the flaming wax. Rather than extinguish the
flames, the fire exploded upward. The flames shot up the wall, across the
ceiling, and down the other side of the room. Our screams alerted my
father, who woke to see his baby girl standing in a room surrounded by
flames. With the agility of Superman, Dad sprang to his feet, ran to the
kitchen faster than a speeding bullet, grabbed the lid of the pot, and
clamped it down on the source of the flames. Just as quickly as the fire
had erupted, it seemed to recede back into the pot like a genie returning
to his bottle. 

                                This all happened in a matter of seconds.
We stood in the middle of the room like three stunned deer. I never did
tell my dad that it was Jim who threw the water on the burning wax. Teenage
boys have two strikes against them just by walking through the doors to
pick up a man's baby girl.

                                After the shock of the incident wore off,
I had time to reflect on the speed at which the flames blazed around the
room, the feeling of fire licking against my skin, the terrifying sound the
fire made. It made me think about my words and how easily they can explode
and singe those around me. I saw and understood the destructive power of
our words and the speed at which that destruction can spread. But you know
what else I learned? I learned just how easy it is to stop the blaze...put
a lid on it. As soon as my father placed a lid on the pot and removed the
flames' source of oxygen, the fire went out. 

                                As we listen to God day by day, I pray we
will sense His leading to put a lid on our destructive words. Let's pray we
will be quick to listen, slow to speak, and quick to obey when God warns us
to keep fire-sparking words from slipping past our lips.

                                Let's Pray

                                Dear Lord, set a guard over my mouth.
Keep watch over the door of my lips. May nothing escape my mouth today that
is not pleasing to You.

                                 In Jesus' name, 

                                Amen.

                                Now It's Your Turn

                                Read James 3:1-18 and note what you learn
about our words.


                                Has there been a time you wish you had
"put a lid on it" rather than say something you said. (I know that is a
silly question.  Who hasn't?)

                                Today, sit a pot lid out on your kitchen
counter as a reminder to put a lid on your words. You might want to leave
it out for more than a few days.

                                Girlfriends in God

                                P.O. Box 725

                                Matthews, NC 28106

                                info at girlfriendsingod.com
                                www.girlfriendsingod.com 



                                 
                             
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