MamaArcher's Blog

Words Fitly Spoken

A few weeks ago I took the children to the Anchorage Museum.  It was a fun afternoon.  There were many fascinating things to see and explore.  The children and I all had a good time.  The first floor was lots of fun.  There were so many hands on activities that I thought we would end up spending the entire time there.  We did make it to the second floor which was much more interesting to me.  There were almost full scale Alaskan homes of different kinds and time periods.  Each structure was cut in half so that you could see the inside which contained a full portrayal of what the inside of one of these homes was like.  We spent quite a bit of time there.  Then it was on to the third floor.  This floor had very many interesting things but things that are not as eye catching to a youngster as lets say to someone like me who loves museums.  The littles were beginning to get a bit antsy and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated by the fact that I was having to stay more on top of them than before.

We finished the third floor and got on the elevator to go to the fourth and final (and tiny) floor.  I was a little stressed and wondering if we would make it through the fourth floor before I felt like I was going to loose it.  There was another family with two children in the elevator with us.  As I was about to let out a big sigh to calm my inner stress levels the mother of this family spoke.  She began to praise my children and how well they behaved.  She began to praise me and how well I was handling them all by myself without loosing my cool.  She praised me for the fact that I was even doing this without their dad along that day.  Then she mentioned that she and her hubby could barely do it with their two children.  I simply said thank you as they exited the elevator.

I let out a big sigh and released all that pent up UNNECESSARY stress.

God has done this to me on several occasions to be honest.  When I get to the point of loosing it, He gently reminds me through others that I am focusing on the wrong thing.  I am seeing their being children and shorter attention spans as misbehavior rather than what it is.  I was focusing on my tired feet and lack of energy than the joy of being a mother.  I had to pray and ask forgiveness.  I then praised my children for their good behavior and pointed out how it had made an impression on others.

The Lord used that lady in the museum elevator to discipline me and to encourage me at the same time!  He is good like that!

The fourth floor was so much more enjoyable than it would have been if the Lord had not given me my much needed attitude adjustment.

Proverbs 25:11 comes to mind when I reflect on situations like these.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

The NASB puts it this way.

Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

That is so very true!

Have you ever experienced anything like this?  How has the Lord used others and their timely, fitly spoken words to discipline and encourage you? Leave me a comment to share how the Lord has worked in your life in this manner.