Words Hurt Worse than Sticks and Stones

• Good job.
• I'm proud of you.
• You look beautiful.
• You are a great [insert noun here].

Compliments. Words of encouragement. We all love to hear them, don't we? I know I do. It not only makes me feel good when people make positive comments about me, but it inspires me to continue improving and doing well in those areas. And it makes me want to encourage others.

• I'm so sick of you.
• Why do you always have to [insert negative action here]?
• Why are you always so [insert negative characteristic here]?
• You are stupid.

Negative criticisms. Words of discouragement. We don't love these so much, do we? I know I don't. Not only does it make me feel bad when people make negative comments about me, but it makes me either want to "show them" (with impure motives) or just discourages me. Worse than that, however, I find it makes me more negative too.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not blaming others for my own poor attitude or decisions. I am responsible for my own decisions. But as imperfect people, I am speaking of the reality that these things tend to impact us. As the saying goes, "Hurt people hurt people."

"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will ever hurt me." Have you ever heard this old saying? Sorry to be negative for a moment, but I totally disagree with it. Words absolutely can and often do hurt us, much deeper than any physical injury sticks and stones could cause.

Perhaps you're a positive person always looking to compliment. If you are, that's awesome. Please keep being you. But if you're like me, then you struggle with this sometimes.

I sometimes find it so much easier to see the negative than the positive. Not only in others, but also in myself. But there's no benefit in such negativity.

Proverbs 18:21 says:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,   and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Words can hurt. But words can heal too. Let's be honest with ourselves. There are enough people speaking death over the people in our lives that they can use some words of life from us. It may be difficult because of the negativity we hear in our own lives. But we must be intentional and push through the negativity and choose to be people who speak life today.

Hurt people do tend to hurt people. But hurt people who find the grace and mercy Christ offers to empower them to lay their hurt at His feet can overcome and help heal (love, encourage) people.

So let's be intentional today and remember the following:

It's better to compliment than criticize.

It's better to encourage than enrage.

La Gracia de Dios

It was one week ago today that Polly, Genevieve and I boarded a plane and moved our lives to San Jose, Costa Rica. We have slowly but surely been adjusting to life in our new context. But before we get too far removed from our travel day, I wanted to share with you the favor God showed us that day (after all our anxieties about it)

What do you do with over 20 pieces of luggage?

I don't know the most pieces of luggage you have ever traveled with at one time, but for us this trip brought a record. We had:

• 9 plastic bins, zip-tied shut
• 5 duffle bags
• 5 suitcases (including 3 carry-ons)
• 3 personal bags
• 1 stroller
• 1 car seat

That's a lot of stuff. Have you ever thought through the practical side of how you handle that much luggage at an airport? I hadn't prior to our arrival at the airport. A few components combined to make this go smoothly.

1. The kind employees of Jet Blue sectioned off an area for us to put our luggage while Polly and Genevieve waited in the line.

2. We had friends and family there to help us bring the luggage to that area and tag it all for us.

Excess baggage gets expensive

Jet Blues policy for baggage fees is:

• 1st bag free
• 2nd bag - $40
• 3rd+ bag - $75

The very nice woman helping us at the desk spoke with her supervisor and had them eliminate $225 of these fees. A penny saved is a penny earned.

Dragging her kicking and screaming

Genevieve got upset when took her carry-on from her as we worked our way into the security line because she was holding the people behind us up. Polly was literally dragging her kicking and screaming through the line. While this may seem inconvenient, it did cause an employee to put us in the fast line bypassing everyone. We made it through security with no issues.

Oversized carry-ons

When we arrived at the gate I asked about our carry-ons. They were oversized, but they gate checked them at no cost. That's another $150 we saved (though they didn't arrive in Costa Rica until the following day).

Immigration

There were quite a few people ahead of us in line once we arrived in San Jose. Thankfully, this culture loves and looks after pregnant women. They moved us to the fast lane again and we received our tourist visas in the matter of minutes.

Time to get the luggage

How were we going to get all that luggage from the conveyor belt through customs? Thankfully, they had Skycap guys waiting at the ready to help for a tip. They even waited with our luggage while we filed the paperwork for our 2 gate-checked bags that didn't make it with us.

Customs

The guy wanted to go through all the plastic bins. But after opening one, he accepted the fact that it really was household items. He told us to take the rest. We weren't held back for very long at all.

That day will serve as a reminder to us of God's favor when we face difficult days here. God really drove this point home to us on Sunday when John Musacchio preached on God's favor. God is so good!