PUT A CORK IN IT! 6/27/10

I know you have heard this phrase! The definition is "keep quiet; shut up; stop talking so I can say something; and on and on and on!" When we first learned that Jennifer had a thickness around her tongue and had her tongue clipped, the speech therapist who brought this to our attention, worked with Jennifer so she could learn to use her tongue and talk. She literally used corks!

Ever watch a baby's tongue! The baby smiles and grins and the tongue is like a loose cannon with no control. They stick it out, roll it around, all the while the little mouth is filling up with saliva. They soon learn how to control it and one of those ways is thru nursing or the bottle. Their tongue controls the position of the nipple and the muscles in the mouth squeeze out the milk. The signs were all there but no Doctor ever saw it nor brought it to our attention.

The speech therapist told us to buy various size corks. Jennifer was to start with one cork and record her reading out-loud. As she learn to control the cork we would graduate to two, then three and so on until her little mouth couldn't hold any more. We then used larger corks using the same process. Years later we found the cassette tape and had the hardest time trying to figure out what it was. It was Jennifer learning to talk one summer at the budding age of 13 going on 14.

In Jennifer's situation the cork was used to teach her to control her tongue so she could learn to talk and even to sing. This was a positive procedure, that helped Jennifer to overcome a very difficult learning process. The other use for corks was as a bottle stopper; keeping the liquid in. I suppose that is where 'put a cork in it, comes from!'

The Morning Glory blog I posted June 25th is called "NIT PICKER." I likened myself as a having been a nit picker but realized I am still one. That was evident at our Wednesday night Bible Study! We were reading Hebrews 4 verse 8. In reading my KJV, it read Jesus. I mentioned this to our leader and he quite apply explained that it would work with Jesus but he felt in this case it was referring to Joshua. He explained that some times translations have a way of becoming interpretations. I didn't want to let it go! I wanted to discuss this further! However, in realizing I was still a nit picker, I said under my breath; "It doesn't matter!" I think Jim was saying under his breath; "Put a cork in it Jane Ann!"

I have a scripture neatly framed and on my office wall that says; "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." Psalm 141:3 We all, on occasion, need to have a guard over our lips. We all find ourselves carrying on as if our life depended upon it. Is it because we have a need to be right? Or is it just because we have a need to be heard?

Even though it is one of my favorite verses I need to pay closer attention to; "Be still and know that I am God!" Psalm 46:10a When I keep my mouth shut and listen when the Pastor is teaching or when Jim is leading our Sunday School class, that is a good thing. Many times I ask the question or even approach a subject before the leader has a chance to get there. I get anxious and excited. I think in my mind; "perhaps they are not going to mention this!"

Asking God to set a guard over my mouth is asking God to take my responsibility. However Proverbs 30:32 says; "If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth." In other words; "Put a cork in it!" I don't think I have ever said that to anyone but I can say it to myself. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart; be acceptable in they sight, oh Lord, my God and my redeemer!" Psalms 19:14 As the old song says; "When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way!" Let's trust and obey! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 6/24/10