The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26 nkjv
How are you?
I'm fine.
Have a great day!
I love you.
I'm sorry.
God bless you.
What do these phrases have in common? Are they just phrases we've used so much that the feelings behind and the meanings of them have been devalued? For example, when I say How are you?, do I want to know how someone really is? Or is it just a habit. And when we answer, I'm fine, is that by rote as well? When the cashier tells me Have a great day!, does she mean it? What about I love you--one of the most commonly used phrases of all time.
And guess what? I am so guilty! I know these are phrases we've learned from childhood as greetings and what not, but I've decided to really begin thinking about what I am going to say or how I'm going to respond, and do my best to truly mean it. And I've got a gut feeling that this is going to be way harder than I think!
I remember answering the phone one day:
Hello?
So and so: Hi, this is SoandSo
Me: I'm fine!
She didn't even get How are you? out of her mouth, which I assumed was going to be her line, before I blurted out my normal, nobrainer, typical cliche' of I'm fine!
All this brings me to the last one I've mentioned--God Bless you.
With this one, for the record I would like you to know that I really do mean it when I say God bless you.
So, when you see:
God bless,
Brenda :)
after my comment to you, know that I really mean it, and I am giving you an abbreviated version of the above scripture and not just a quick God Bless You after you sneeze!
It's All GOD BLESS YOU Good!
Brenda, AMEN. big time hugs and God's Blessings and love to you and the family,from Mine. Mike G. said that!(It's an A.A. thing)
ReplyDeleteBrenda I LOVE your new thumbnail pic. It is quite lovely.
ReplyDeleteThis was a GREAT post. But you know, I have had friends ask me "how are you" with a certain tone of voice, and I KNEW what they were asking. It was so sincere!
As for I love you... when I was teaching dance i would often tell my little ballerina's I love you. I did, not like their parents, but in my way, I really did love them and love spending time with them. And who knows? They may not have heard that much at home. I have never felt shy about using i love you!!
The one that God convicted me of was "You are in my prayers". I was not always using that sincerely. Now, if I tell someone I will pray for them, I do it IMMEDIATELY. And I don't say in my prayers because that sounds continuous, and I am not always that faithful.
GREAT POST!!!!!
Ooh, love your new header and profile pic!
ReplyDeleteAnd may God richly bless you and yours, dear Brenda, and I mean that most sincerely, from the bottom of my heart. :o)
Love and BIG Hugs,
Diane
Good morning Brenda, I say "I love you" all of the time and mean it...I have been hearing out in public the words " have a blessed day"..Thanks for sharing your loving words this day..
ReplyDeleteI love your bright and cheerful background with the cafe header..
I'm so glad God does bless us and you, too.
ReplyDeleteSusan
OH I love this verse Brenda ..
ReplyDeleteThe Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
AND you are so right .. about the things we say with no thought behind them ..great post ..
I'm glad you liked the food casserole post (:) I remember you said that before about most
food-posts not looking appetizing to you (:)
You funny girl~~
well thanks it tasted ok not my favorite actually (:)I guess it looked better then it was ~~
well have a great day ..
hugs, Patty
Good post. And this really is a beautiful Monday. I don't know how many times I've responded with "fine" when someone asks how I am. Sometimes I'm not really all that fine, but it just comes out automatically.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to the In-N-Out Burger. We go there pretty often. Lately we've been going to Whataburger more. We love their hot lemon pies. They are really hot hot hot though. We usually end up burning our mouths because we can't wait for them to cool down.
Have a great week.
I loved this post... so true dear!
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed week, and may God Bless You!
do tell me how you are feeling these days too!
Love, Jess
I agree we all use too many phrases
ReplyDeletejust as conv. pieces not to actually get an honest answer or really hear their reply. I know I'm guilty too, thats something I'm going to work on too.
Thank you!
Brenda, God bless YOU, and I know that He has.
ReplyDeleteWhen ever someone says; God bless you to me, I respond, "If God blesses me any more I would not be able to keep my feet on the ground".
Hi Brenda,
ReplyDeleteI am a sincere person and anything I say these things to another person then you can bet I really mean it.