Watch What You Say

Kerrville Daily Times

April 2013

Have you ever said something and immediately thought to yourself, “why did I say that?” I have certainly done that too many times in my life. I remember when I was a little girl getting in trouble at school one day because I told someone in the lunch line that they smelled bad. It was the truth but unfortunately it caused more harm than good.  

When I came home from school and told my parents what happened, my dad commented in a stern voice, “Sounds like you had diarrhea of the mouth today.” “You don’t have to say everything that comes to your mind Kathleen,” he continued. That very graphic verbal illustration was hard to hear, however, it did make a point. 

My mother’s words were a little easier to swallow. She seasoned her words with grace and said, “Honey, I know you were trying to help the little girl but you didn’t.” She understood my motive was to help, but my method of doing so was lacking. Having a verbal and expressive personality, I have had to train myself to filter my words and season them so they are easy for others to swallow. I am still in training...

Many people justify what they say just like I did saying what they said was truth. Yes, truth is truth and scripture says the truth will set us free but there it also says a lot about mercy, grace, and compassion. Without grace and love, the truth is useless. Psalms 85:10 states, “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Any truth we speak, should always be seasoned with kindness as God is always kind to us, even when we do not deserve it.

Ephesians 4:29 declares, “ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”Colossians 4:6 reiterates the same point to us about how to speak the truth to someone. We must speak truth but always say things in a way that are easy for others to swallow.

“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

The other night I was cooking dinner and simmered some fresh collard greens. We are trying to eat more vegetables so I thought I would try something a little different. I tasted them and thought how bitter they tasted. I quickly tried to make them a little more appetizing by seasoning them with garlic, smokey seasoning, a couple of pieces of bacon, a jalapeno and salt and pepper. They were awesome and my husband, who is not a huge vegetable eater, loved them. Truth-greens are rich in Vitamin K, Vitamin A, calcium and are know for fighting cancer and heart disease. Without seasoning, they are a little hard to swallow, however, with the right spices, they are very easy, beneficial and enjoyable to swallow.

Scripture has much to say about our tongue and we are challenged over and over agin to watch what we speak. Colossians 3:8 says, “But now you  yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouths.” You do not have to go down too many streets in town before you hear a string of curse words. It seams to be common in our society. I am not here to judge anyone as I remember a time in my life I had simply picked up a bad habit of saying, “well crap” when something went wrong. I hate to admit that and it certainly was not very lady like. That phrase may not seam that bad to some people but for me I began feel God gently began to convict me. I confessed my failure and asked Him for help to change the habit. Each time I made the mistake, I would repent and finally the habit was broken.

The first step to changing anything in our lives is to look at our heart. The Holy Spirit convicts us of wrong to show us a better way, not to condemn us. God is in the business of changing our hearts and that is such wonderful news. I have had the joy of seeing Him change people that seemed hard as nails into some of the kindest people I know. 

”Luke 6:45 is pretty straight forward in tying the heart and our mouth together.“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (NIV) I love how the King James version puts this scripture, “ Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” 

Our mouth and our heart are linked together. God sent Jesus so we could have a new heart, a soft heart. Disappointments, hurt, offenses can all cause us to harden our hearts against God and others. God’s desire is for us to keep our hearts soft as stated in Ezekiel 11:19, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” One of my continual prayers is for God to keep my heart soft and to soften my heart. Repentance is also wonderful at softening the heart. The condition of our heart directly affects what comes out of our mouth. Just as our heart is vital to our physical health, it is also vital to our spiritual and emotional health and relationships with others.

I challenge you to take note of what you say and how you say it. Do your words need a little seasoning? They can be truth but they can also be harmful. Do you need to ask God to soften your heart or ask His forgiveness for some of your words? Let’s season all our words with kindness and grace so each word builds our families, businesses and community.

Kathleen is a native of the Hill Country and is a writer and speaker. She is passionate about helping people discover their value and worth. She can be heard on Sunday mornings from 8:00 am to 9:00 am on The REV FM, 94.3. Contact her at kathleenmaxwell1@gmail.com or visit her blog on www.themaxwellminutes.blogspot.com

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In 2007 I was part of the beginning of this nonprofit  campus in our community as Executive Director of the Christian Women's Job Corps and was part of the Capital Campaign for their new building. I am honored to be a small part of the rest of the story and am passionate about this project that will help many struggling people in our area. Scripture tells us over and over to plead the cause of the poor and needy.  Below is a press release that is set to come out in local  newspapers.

Arizona • California • Colorado Florida • Illinois • New York Ohio • Oregon • Tennessee Texas • Washington, D.C. Africa • ­­­Eastern Europe Latin America • Southeast Asia

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            CONTACT: Krista Piferrer

April 10, 2013                                                                                                          (210) 283-5136

Nonprofit Campus Set to Expand

By Kathleen Maxwell-Rambie

In 2005, The Cailloux Foundation hosted a community meeting to find out what was going on with former foster youth in our community. Finding resources and accessing assistance is a difficult web to navigate, especially for young adults without parents or other strong support systems to help guide them. That’s when BCFS Health and Human Services’ (BCFS HHS) Terri Hipps – who lives in Kerrville – presented the idea of opening a transition center.

BCFS HHS helped establish Texas’ first youth transition center in San Antonio in 2000. In a single location, foster youth saw their case manager, received help with their FAFSA, engaged in life skills training, and more. If youth had to travel to different sites throughout the city to access these services, they would never get everything they needed. When providers are all located together, youth receive the comprehensive, coordinated – and non-duplicated – care they need to make the transition into adulthood.

The Kerrville community partners were interested in bringing this kind of “one stop” model to their town. To get started, the Cailloux Foundation provided grant money to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country with the purpose of establishing a nonprofit campus for Kerrville. The Community Foundation in turn acquired two pieces of property two blocks east of the Kerr County Courthouse where Main and Broadway split. The property had a house (currently occupied by BCFS HHS’ Kerrville Transition Center), a cottage that is home to Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), and a building now home to the Christian Women's Job Corps of Kerr County (CWJC).

For six years now, the block at 1105 E. Main Street has served as a centralized location where nonprofits work together to leverage their resources and better serve former foster youth and other clients.

The symbiotic relationship among the agencies was effective in saving youth from homelessness, substance abuse, unemployment, crime and unplanned pregnancies. Each year, the Kerrville Transition Center helps thousands of teens and young adults. Yet, the growth of available services is now spilling out beyond the block and into buildings around town – negating the “one stop” ease that originally inspired the development.

Now, the Cailloux Foundation has again stepped up for foster youth. The organization has issued a $500,000 challenge grant to build a new “one stop” building. The transition center will not only house BCFS HHS, but also Art-2-Heart, Families & Literacy, and Partners In Ministry Vision Youth, The Pregnancy Resource Center, and other human services organizations. CWJC and BBBS will also remain on the campus.

“Everyone at the Community Foundation is very excited about this next step in realizing the vision of the campus. The BCFS HHS Transition Center will certainly provide the impetus for fulfillment of our nonprofit campus dream,” said Paul Urban, Executive Director for the Community Foundation. “As a result of BCFS HHS’ efforts, it has given the foundation the opportunity to develop a master plan to attract other nonprofits too.”

Kristin Cook, Branch Coordinator for BBBS said, “I am very excited to see the nonprofit campus planning in its final stages because I strongly believe it will be a true asset to our community. It will enhance communication between these nonprofits which will ultimately benefit clients and the community. All of the resources someone could need will be at an arm's length.”

Another campus partner stated, “CWJC can only see great benefits with this campus. Many people, regardless of their gender or severity of need, will be able to access the help, training, and aide they require to move forward in their lives. We look forward to having many non-profits easily accessible and working together for the good of the Kerrville community,” said Ann Buck, current CWJC Executive Director.

Thanks to the support of the Ruby Stevens Foundation, the Hal Peterson Foundation, the Sterling-Turner Foundation, the Cailloux Foundation and other organizations and individuals in the community, more than $1 million has been secured to build the new facility. The new 16,000 square foot Kerrville Transition Center will provide a robust place where compassion and help will be available for thousands in the Texas Hill Country.

“We support the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country and BCFS HHS in this capital project and urge others to support it as well,” said Sandy Cailloux Executive Director of the Cailloux Foundation. “Helping at-risk youth and young adults become more responsible and self-sufficient gives them a much better start in life and strengthens our entire community.”

All gifts to the new Kerrville Transition Center are tax deductible. Checks may be made out to BCFS and mailed to 550 Earl Garret Suite 114 in Kerrville or at our website at www.DiscoverBCFS.net/StepUp. 

For more information, contact Kathleen Maxwell-Rambie at (830) 928-9387.

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BCFS is a global system of health and human service non-profit organizations with locations and programs throughout the United States as well as Eastern Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. The organization is a national leader in medical sheltering and emergency management and response, providing critical emergency support services to federal, state and local governments. BCFS also provides residential services and emergency shelters for children who are abused or neglected, assisted living services and vocational training for adults with intellectual disabilities, mental health services for children and families, foster care and adoption services, medical services, transitional living services for at-risk youth and those in the juvenile justice system, residential camping and retreats for children and families, and international humanitarian aid for children living in impoverished conditions in developing countries.

Highs and Lows

Easter 2013 We enjoyed some time away together and had a great time.

It seems like Stephen and I have been married about five years when you think of all we have been through in the short five months we've been married. Holidays, my mom's death, dad's cancer and death, a fire in our home, sorting through all of mom and dad's belongings. Needless to say, we haven't been bored. The best news of all is we are going to be grandparents in August. Austin and Laura are having a girl and Mallory and Rob are having a boy two weeks later. August will be a lot of fun and we have enjoyed seeing sonograms and discussing what our names will be.

We have certainly had lots of high moments of celebrating and yet grief seems to find me again. Highs and lows seem to dominate this season of life for me and yet I have seen and experienced God's faithfulness  over and over. Wading through all the boxes, drawers, dad's office...yes he saved bank statements from 1979, all take lots of time and energy. My two siblings have come in once a month to help with the process.

I am so thankful for God's timing in our marriage as I cannot imagine walking through two major losses alone. God's ways are perfect and Stephen keeps me laughing constantly with his quick wit and humor as well as his strength and support in this season.

 

Fun with the kids!

We helped Mallory and Rob host their Gender Reveal Party a few weeks ago! What fun we had seeing the sonogram, keeping the secret and then letting everyone know. It's a boy!

The next generation

I bought Baby W his first shoes.