Words can get the job done. What are you saying?

My husband is a mechanic and seems to really love tools. Sometimes so much that he can’t get started on a job until he has exactly the right tool in his hand (including last minute runs to the hardware store). This has often annoyed me, both the delay in repairs and what I considered to be a waste of money. Why couldn’t he just use that adjustable wrench or the worn out screwdriver, I would ask. Recently, though I learned something about that. I bought a lawn mower.

We have a lawn mower that needs repairs, often. And the grass was getting long. Again. I wanted something that I didn’t have to ask for help with. Not to refuel, maintain, adjust, or even start. So I used some gift cards and bought a light weight, push-button electric mower for use with a cord. As I easily finished all three yards in one morning I thought, ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner?’ If I can operate it myself I can use it when I need, I can finish the job or take a break when I need to. The right tool has made the lawn care possibilities endless ! Well maybe not endless, I don’t intend to mow everyone’s lawn, but my neighbour’s yard is now a possibility.

While I was walking behind this gentle machine I thought about the kids in school who don’t like to write until they get that one, thick, super-cool marker or don’t read until someone shows them just the right book. These are tools too. both the object and the person who knows to offer it. Is part of our resistance to doing things because we don’t have the right tool? What if the right tool is actually the right words? Sometimes rephrasing the question or request is all that is needed to get my kids in motion.

My youngest is sometimes shy, or in modern speak-has anxiety. When new situations come up one of the things we do is practice. I give her a script. Maybe we go to the store deli: “Hi I would like 100g of pepperoni, please.” Point to the one you want if there are options or tell the person it is for pizza. Make sure to thank them. Then go to the cashier. Say hi, make eye contact, give them the cash. This doesn’t seem like a big deal for many people but when you can’t think of words when you’re scared then having a script takes one stressful aspect out of the situation.

God understands anxiety, Moses had it, David had it, even the disciples had anxiety. God/Jesus gave them words, and therefore tools to get the work done. ‘When you are praying say this:’ ‘When someone says this to you, respond with this.’ The Holy Spirit still gives us the words and tools we need but we have to listen first and sometimes it is very hard to hear them. Or we can also read them in the Bible, and devotionals online or in books. Often I hear the exact words I need in someone else’s voice. My mom’s, a favourite aunt’s, my children’s, my pastor’s, my friend’s and even my husband’s voice sometimes. We need to find the time to read the words, or listen for them.

One of my characters has anxiety and I hope that some of the lessons he learns throughout the book will give a child reading it the tools they need to deal with their own stress and anxiety. At one point he doesn’t know what he should do so he thinks of someone else, what would they do. The friend’s words comes to him. He listens first.

This week’s challenge is to very deliberately use your words as tools. Whether you explain something clearly or use them to encourage, think about what you are saying and what the person will remember. Will it be love that they hear when they need it most, when they are full of sadness or anxiety, will yours be the voice that comes to them?

Rocky Rulers is now available on all major online stores and through

Friesen Press

I also have a stack of books at my house, so just ask!

Figuring out right vs wrong when you are frozen with anxiety is hard. Your fur stands on end, ears twitch and your tail flicks nervously from side to side. Breathe with me. And again. You’ve got friends. You don’t need to know history, lore or magic to join these teens through personal struggles and major catastrophes while they change the world for everyone around them.