Are you a quick thinker? I have moments in which I can do that. Moments. But my mom is like that all the time. Better yet, she is also a genius with it. There was this one time I was simply amazed.
When Sara was a toddler, we almost had her weaned from the bottle. She was using her sippy cup except for bedtime. Every night she had to have a bottle before she went to bed. We tried and tried to get her to take her sippy cup, but she wouldn’t do it. Nothing else we tried worked either. Tim and I were at our wit’s end.
One evening, I gave Sara apricots as her late snack. I know that sounds strange, but she used to love them and would often eat them at that time. Then my mom arrived and asked if she could hold Sara as she took her last bottle.
To this day, I can still see Sara sitting in Mom’s lap as she drank. Suddenly Sara yanked the bottle out of her mouth and leaned over. I daresay you know what happened next. Up came all of the apricots she had eaten along with the milk she had drank. With big tears in her eyes, she cried, “I spitty-out.”
My first momma instinct was to pick her up, but before I could do that, my mother said, “Bad bottle make Sara spitty-out! Bad bottle!” To which Sara replied, “Bad bottle.” My mother wasn’t done yet. She added, “Let’s throw it away so we never have to look at it again.”
On one hand, I was totally amazed at my mom’s quick ingenuity. On the other hand, I was disappointed that I didn’t think of that response myself.
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Proverbs 25:11 (KJV)
When you speak, do you ever stop to think about what The Lord will think of your words? Will He hear them as valuable and helpful to another person or will He hear them as harmful? Our words should always be spoken with that in mind, even when we’re upset.
That was the last bottle Sara ever took, but she still drinks milk. As for the apricots, she will not touch them. What’s the difference? Probably the wonderful orange apricot stain left as a reminder on her carpet.
By the way, Sara now owns and lives in that house, but without the stain.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.