Big Mouth Mama

“Big mouth Mama!” The thought seared my subconscious as horror set in. “This must be some kinda joke.” With lightening speed I shot an email to Lexie, the girl in charge. She needed to be informed- PRONTO! After all, my head wasn’t supposed to be cut off, right?

My first piece of published writing was featured Saturday on Mary DeMuth’s website in her Thin Place feature. Much to my chagrin, it wasn’t quite like I imagined it would be. When I excitedly clicked on the link to my post early Saturday morning, the picture above illuminated my computer screen.

And truly, I was horrified. But the horror quickly turned humorous as I chuckled to myself. I knew there must be some spiritual lesson the Lord wanted to teach me and you.

With beams of sunlight dancing off the lake and wind whipping through my hair, I opened my Bible a few hours later. My husband and I weren’t spotting any boaters with our high speed binoculars, so I decided to sneak in a couple of chapters in Isaiah. (Mark and I get paid to spy on people and record whether they’re wearing life jackets!)

As I soaked in the words of Isaiah 58, verse 13 leapt off the page as if it were shouting at me. The latter half of it read, “…honor the Lord in everything you do, and don’t follow your desires or talk idly.”

Talk idly? Idly means nonchalantly, carelessly, or absentmindedly. It denotes speaking casually without thinking first. An idle word isn’t profitable to others; it’s barren and useless.

I don’t know about you, but I’m often guilty of idle chatter. I love to talk and will bend the ear of anyone who’ll listen. I’m not always the woman with the quiet and gentle spirit (1 Peter 3:3-4).

But in that moment, the Lord reminded me of an important truth found in Matthew 12:36-37. One day, I’ll give an account of every idle word I speak. And so, sweet sister, will you.

Now I know why my mouth was emblazoned across my computer screen Saturday morning. God saw fit to send me a friendly reminder about the kind of mouthpiece He desires me to be. So in the magnificent words of Colossians 3:17, may everything I do and everything I say be an accurate representation of my precious Jesus. I pray this will be your heart’s cry as well.