What's in a Word?

Isn't it funny how God allowed us all to babble before we learned how to talk? Sometimes I look at Lydia-who is still very much babbling and experimenting with different word sounds-and think Wow, she has so much to say, I can't understand a word she is saying, but she knows exactly what she is trying to tell me. Sometimes it's so frustrating for her that I do not understand what she is saying and other times when I do pick up on what she is trying to communicate-oh the joy in that little face-Mission Accomplished!
Mommy knows what I just said! The look I get is priceless.

This whole scenario with Lydia has made me stop and think b/c sometimes I think we are so quick to use our words and so slow to think before we spew them out. They are in fact "Our" words...we are just the gatekeepers and determine where, when, and how they leave our mouths. Honestly, don't you just wish sometimes that people would really stop and THINK before they talked? Wow. What a concept right! The last few weeks I have had that very thought run through my head more than once. It's amazing how spending everyday with a toddler will allow your mind to think and maybe cause you to rearrange the priorities in your life...It kinda leaves you thinking "do I do that also?, are my words being used to uplift, or to downgrade?". It's so easy to point a finger at someone else, but how does that saying go? You point to one person, and you have three fingers pointing back at you!?

Lately, I feel I've been on both sides of the spectrum (giving and receiving) when it comes to those spewing words that really stick with you-both positive and negative. What is God trying to teach me through this? I feel like His lesson for me lately has been Compassion. Compassion towards those people who the world may not find so lovable? Compassion for that friend who says something hurtful. Compassion for a husband who's had a hard day at work. Compassion for a child who is trying to with all her heart to communicate to the one person she feels should understand everything she is trying to say. Maybe it's compassion to help understand a weakness in one person, recognize that I may have that same weakness, but choose to turn it into something positive in my life? I'm so thankful for these simple, yet so very essential life lessons that God whispers to me through my child. I don't ever want to be too busy to miss what He may have in store for me to grow on. Even if it does start out as a simple "babble"...