Zip it!

Our church is currently doing a series called Zip It! Last week was the first of the three parts. The takeaway point was that we as a culture do a whole lot of complaining; it becomes a disease that infects every aspect of our lives. We complain about our job: the commute, the hours, the schedule, our co-workers, our bosses, the pay, the insurance. We complain about our finances: gas is too expensive, we don't make enough money to pay our bills, we want more than we can afford. We complain about our spouses and our marriages: not attentive enough, careless about cleanup, (s)he leaves socks everywhere, etc. We seem to be predisposed to complaining, and it is contagious. Surrounded by complainers, we complain more each day that goes by, and eventually we are tired, unhappy people.

Our pastor briefly mentioned the verses around Matthew 12:36 (among many others): "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."

Wow.

Wow.

If that doesn't shut you right up, then...

Wow.

I really need to stop talking. I already have 30 years of careless words to account for! I'm not even kidding.

In the past couple of weeks, I have heard myself saying some stupid things. The message on Sunday just kind of nailed it down for me: Probably ought to stop talking so much. I was trying to relate the sermon to Josh (it was his Sunday to work, so he missed it), and how it made me think and feel. I have so much trouble articulating it. I feel like I am someone who overthinks, most of the time, and to think that anything comes out of my mouth carelessly doesn't really jive with that. But unfortunately, I am someone who often processes things out loud, and that leads to some "shoot-from-the-hip" kind of comments that can get me into trouble.

So, with that said, I am taking a little break. I feel like this blog has become a place where I complain, or opine, and it's not really pleasant anymore. With the exception of "10 Second Thoughts," I don't even always enjoy blogging anymore, anyway. I write posts to get them out of my head, and maybe I should be keeping some of those thoughts to myself (?). The last thing the world needs is more of my opinion, honestly. I will continue to update the boys' blog, because that is always happy little posts and sweet, pleasant thoughts, but I am not planning on blogging here again anytime soon. Occasionally this blog serves as a great impetus for personal change, for me, and I do think that good comes out of it, in the sense that I get a chance to process things "out loud" with the ability to edit... but for now, it's time to take a step back and, ahem, Zip It. At least for now.

See you at Ben and Matt's place.