Penutimate

idiosyncratic

nidificate

Sesquipedalian

When I was a kid I was always getting in trouble with my mouth, I would sass my mom and she would spank me, I would call my brother a name and she would put soap in my mouth. After a while, the soap became too much of a bother because I would fight her. She then switched the cayenne pepper, which became in-effective after so many times. But the one steady thing she did every time I smarted off or was mean to my brother was make me recite this verse. "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." (Proverbs 12:8) To this day, I can recite that verse inside and out. Except now it carries more weight.

At the top of the page you see four big words, if you're a brainiac and you already know what they mean, great! But if you're a normal person, you probably googled them once you saw them. In a world of writing we are constantly searching for big words, trying to replace the small, mediocre words with big ones. They look more professional and they make us look smarter. But what if I told you that those big words were not the big words I'm talking about? While big words are cool, they're usually just a fancier way of using a smaller word. The big words I strive to use are the ones with bigger meaning.The smaller ones I try to replace, are the ones that make you feel small.

I have a two-year-old cousin. She is my light and probably the sassiest little girl I know. It's my favorite to talk on the phone with her because she so clearly asks me every five minutes "what are you doing?" and then we go from there. She actually reminds me a lot of me, very outgoing and a big personality. However with that personality comes a big voice. My family is constantly telling her "stop that" "be quiet" and "stop being so bossy!" its hard when she's a two year old and we are constantly telling her she's too bossy. Even I get sucked into calling her a brat because "sometimes she acts like it."

What I've found recently, is how she responds when I tell her what a good leader she is. How she has such strong leadership skills and how she is so JOYFUL. I am taking the same phrases we use all the time, and turning them into the positive words that instill in her how God has created her to be. A bossy little girl, is going to be a great leader someday, if she isn't already. By speaking life over her, she now has the freedom to act the way that God has created her to be, but now there is an open window for me to help her tame and re-shape the great leadership skills she's been given.

Girls are told be quiet, to sit and look pretty. We tell her all the time to sit down and to "shush!", to keep her hands to herself and just expect her to be. Little boys however, are just rowdy little boys and thats the way they'll be. We learn how to take their energy and put it to work, or to help them learn a way to channel their energy for "good." So why cant we do that for little girls as well?

Life and death is in the power of your words. How you choose to speak about your day when you wake up in the morning is how you will believe it is going to be. If you wake up already speaking death over your day, your day will most definitely not turn out the way you intended. But if you continually speak life over everything you do, you'd be surprised how the world can change in an instant due to your attitude.

Big words are the words you choose to use to lift someone up. They carry the most meaning. To my baby cousin, telling her she's joyful and energetic instead of a brat even at two, I am building a platform for her to build herself up upon at a young age. There is a reason that the common phrase is "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." Because if you choose to tear people down with your words, you're doing more damage than a good word can fix.

It takes 3 kind words to deplete the 1 unkind word you said. And even then, the unkind word or phrase, is never forgotten, and you can never take it back.

America as a whole is so reckless with their words. Even as we're witnessing in politics right now, the candidates are constantly tearing each other down. We see in movies that the only way to fight, is to call each other names, and hope that someone doesn't end up crying or worse by the end. Our words are so important to even our everyday life.

So next time, you're trying to figure out why your roommate is being such a ____ or your child is acting like such a brat, instead of trying to make them see the issues by using small words, use big words. Use words that build them up and positively help them see whatever is going on. I promise your output will be exponentially different than if you were to use the "small words." Newton was wrong, what goes up does not always have to come down. When it comes to people, you don't have to bring them down after they've been built up. Speaking life is something we should all practice.