"Humdinger"

Dad called it a humdinger,

And I never questioned that,

Mom said that’s a doosey,

When we at her table sat.

They’d often call it wampa-jawed,

If it was not quite square,

It gave ‘em heebie-jeebies,

If they couldn’t fix it there.

I wondered if old Cooter Brown,

Always had too much to drink,

Or if rode hard and put up wet,

Was what it was, I’d think.

Granny called it catawampus,

If something was askew,

And bless your heart she’d often say,

You’d expect it and you knew,

That she’d apply the elbow grease,

To all the work she did,

An old knee-jerk reaction,

But never could be rid,

Of Grandaddy’s opinions,

He’d stretch out his neck,

By arguing with Granny,

Just fightin’ that hen-peck.

When it was time to go somewhere,

They’d say I’m fixin’ to,

And if you needed something,

They’d say I’ll carry you.

Directly meant it won’t be long,

And y’all was for one person,

All y’all was the plural,

Down-south word immersin.’

It might be hard to swallow,

That folks ever spoke this way,

But y’all need to own up to it,

These are words that we still say.

There’s power in the words we speak,

Of that there is no doubt,

The Good Book says it’s life or death,

So when your words go out,

Make darn sure that what you say,

Will bring life to someone,

Something that the Lord can bless,

And use till life is done.

“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences…” (Proverbs 18:21, NLT)

What you say is not always what you get. But what you habitually say will definitely make a difference in your life and its quality. Death or life, the Bible says, and words are seeds that create a harvest, for better or for worse. Ours is uniquely a verbal faith. If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth you will be saved. What we say matters eternally. Like the psalmist, may our mouths be continually filled with His praise. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in His sight.

Lord, help us to speak words of life, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Herman Walker, hermanwalker.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Herman, and God bless you.