The Story of Ellie Egg....and Friends

Pretty eggs ready to visit lunch

Ellie Egg (purple egg in left top corner) brought her friends to lunch on Tuesday. She had heard there were some issues at school with her people friends. She sacrificed herself and her friends to prove a point. THIS is their story.

At lunch, Ellie Egg's best side showed her beautiful smile and curly hair. All looked right with the world. However, what her friends didn't know was that she had a really bad morning. She got up later than she should have. If she didn't hurry, she was going to be late! Her dad got mad for apparently no reason at all...and she cracked a little. Her brother said the yolk's on you as he pushed her in the back...and she cracked some more. "Go ahead, tell on me...nobody will believe you anyway!"....crack. Her mom forgot to give her lunch money....crack. AND then she got to school.....and hid behind her smile.

She has a group of pretty close friends. They gathered around her and asked her if she was OK. Of course, she said yes. Who really wanted to hear all her problems anyway? They all had their own stuff going on too, right? As long as they were watching out for each other and spending time hanging out in their carton, they felt pretty safe....and overall, they were....pretty much.

There's another group of eggs. They're not quite as friendly. Sometimes they feel left out. They don't feel like they fit in. They dress differently. They don't want to stand out, but they sure don't blend in either. Sometimes they say words they don't mean....but they have a reputation....people think they're bad eggs. So they act like it. Not many eggs have taken the time to get to know them better....or realize that each one of them has cracks too.

So things get said to Ellie and her friends. Ellie and her friends say stuff back. Most of it is not very nice. Feelings get hurt. More cracks. Some friends are stronger than others. Their shells crack and they're pretty firm underneath. Some of them though? They crack...and break....and ooze. The sad thing is? They can't be put back to the way they were. No matter how many nice words, people caring, friends surrounding.... things will never be the same.

Proving that words matter. The results

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Moral of Ellie's story (People version) 
short version:  WORDS MATTER

Long version and explanation:

Ellie and her friends went to school to help the lunch girls SEE the effects their words (and other people's words) have on them. I think the girls thought they were going to get ice cream (nope, sorry that's end of the year celebration!) because there was a plastic tablecloth, bowls and napkins on the table when they walked in. They were told it was going to be a surprise. The eggs (I dyed pretty quickly the night before) looked pretty good when we started. They were briefly told about Ellie and that she represented a lot of teenagers...and adults too. Sometimes what we see on the outside (smile) does not show what is really going on (cracks on the other side). The girls were given permanent markers. They decorated their eggs with a face....and with words that have been said to them....or they have said to others. The eggs briefly went back in the carton. I beat a bit on the carton showing them that they were pretty safe when they stuck together. Then the girls got their eggs back into the bowl with a knife or spoon to hit the spots where the words were. It didn't take long for the eggs to crack and break open. Some were hard-boiled. Some were not. It was obvious they couldn't be put back together. I gave them something I wrote previously about eggs and becoming hard boiled:  Becoming Hard Boiled  We put them back in the carton and I snapped another picture. The girls asked if I'd put it on Facebook. So I did....and went into more detail with the story above to put on my blog. I really worried that they wouldn't want to listen. I didn't give them enough credit. At first, they joked around and wanted to save them and throw them at somebody. They all participated and, hopefully, got the moral without hammering it in too much about bullying, etc.

Moral is still: Words matter. (and I have a pretty awesome group of lunch friends!)

Sticks and Stones....Watch Your Mouth

Ahhh, the mouth.  Such a small part of our body, but oh the damage it can do when we let it get out of control.

As the old saying goes:  Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. That is SO far from the truth.  Anybody who has been attacked by words will tell you differently.  Even those who try to be careful of what is said may occasionally suffer from word vomit.  Word vomit is when what you think comes out of your mouth so fast, there is no stopping it and if anybody is in your way, they better move!

One of the bad things about words is that they can't be taken back.  Once you've said something, it's out there, probably gets repeated to others and then all that's left is damage control and hopefully asking for forgiveness.

It only takes a few seconds if our guard is down.  I think I usually keep my words to others pretty positive.  However, a few days ago I was stopped at a red light.  I could turn left if it was clear.  I was busy talking to our daughter and didn't turn when I possibly had a chance too.  The person behind me honked once and maybe even twice.  I am embarrassed to admit this, but I flew a bird and dropped a bomb quicker than I thought possible.  I apologized to my daughter, but I couldn't take back what I did and said.

I used an example in youth group one time with blocks.  It took awhile to build a good sized tower.  I gave the kids other blocks and told them to let some mean words fly when they threw their block at the tower.  The tower was quickly destroyed.  We talked about how much longer it takes to build it up then tear it down.

The same is true with people.  When we don't pay close attention to what we say to others, we can tear them down.  This can cause negative thoughts to flow through their mind and they may get stuck in a loop of repeating it to themselves.  This can cause them to say hurtful things to someone else....and it ripples outward from there.

Words may not cause visible bruises, but they can easily cause as much, if not more pain than a physical blow.  Physical blows (sticks and stones) heal, emotional verbal blows take longer to recover from.

Try and remember the power of words.  Sometimes silence really is golden.

Matthew 12:33-35 (The Message) 

³³"If you grow a healthy tree, you'll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you'll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.

 ^34-37"You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."