Several years ago, I co-taught a Sunday school class for two- and three-year-old children. The lead teacher, we’ll just call her Helen, had lots of experience and many activities up her sleeve from years of working with children, including homeschooling her own.

One Sunday when it was Helen’s turn to teach the lesson, she taught all of us the above verse complete with hand motions. The children loved whispering “A gentle answer” with their hands cupped around their mouths, they thoroughly enjoyed screwing up their faces and spitting out “a harsh word,” and they wildly stirred for “stirs up.” As for me, even though I had read the verse before, it was as though I was hearing it for the first time.

This brings me to several life lessons I learned from this experience.

1. Volunteer to teach. You will learn at least as much from your students as they learn from you.
2. Pay attention to children. Sometimes they speak the unadulterated truth, rather than the edited truth that we learn to speak as adults.
3. Be brave enough to learn hand motions to Scripture or Scripture put to music. It will help you commit it to memory, the same as it helps children to do so.
4. Pay attention to the Old Testament, just as you pay attention to the New Testament. Both contain truths that are crucial to our development as mature Christians.
5. Protect your quiet time with the Lord. Just as He spoke to the writers of Scripture, He will speak to you through Scripture. The catch is that we have to be still and know that He is God. When we allow the world to fill our senses, we cannot hear the important messages that He has for us. So turn off the television, put down the cell phone and yes, even step away from the computer and listen for His voice. He will honor your obedience.

Teaching can be a great source of learning! So the next time they ask for volunteers to teach at your church, step up. The children will benefit and so will you.

I had never heard of a “meme” before I asked my teenager to explain it to me last year. After making me feel really old and uninformed by saying, “Really, Mom? You really don’t know?” he said it was like a picture on Facebook with some words on it, usually funny.

Oh? I’ve been attracted to memes all my life and didn’t realize it. I especially remember back in high school when I had posters plastered all over my bedroom walls. They were mostly outdoor scenes and cute animal pictures with pithy sayings that made me smile and feel good.   And now I collect internet memes by saving them to My Photos on my iPhone. I like some funny ones, but mostly I save memes that make me stop and think.

The Oxford Dictionary says the word “meme” originated in the 1970’s from the Greek word “mimema” which means “that which is imitated.” The definition from Wikipedia says a meme is “an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.”

So my wall posters from high school qualify as memes. And a lot of what is posted on Facebook are memes. I realize that what I see on Facebook is filtered because I only see what my friends post, but almost every day, I find a new meme or two that I think is worth saving. I’m guessing I have hundreds. What do I do with all these memes?

Memes operate similar to proverbs in my life. They are “for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.” (Proverbs 1:2-6 NIV)

I save a lot of memes with scriptures on them and of course, there are many memes that I ignore because reading them doesn’t stir up any connection for me. That’s the good thing about memes, unless they quote the Bible, you can take them or leave them.

Right now I am trying to establish a habit of reviewing the memes that I’ve saved to my phone on a periodic basis. It’s usually only when I’m waiting in a doctor’s office that I check my memes. It’s great for when I’m a little worried or feeling down but don’t have a lot of time to search the Bible or to call someone. I just start scrolling through my pictures and I don’t have to go very far before one sparks a memory about somebody or starts a deeper thought process and I start praying.

And praying is one thing I can count on to really work to improve my attitude. Every time I review my memes, I feel refreshed and encouraged. Even when the meme brings up a memory of something I regret, I resolve to do better now that I know better.

The mobile Bible app called “YouVersion” includes a built in menu option to make your own memes from any Bible verse. The app calls it making “Verse Images.” You can make a meme and then save it to your phone or share with social media.

I think sharing these little bits of wisdom is one way we can obey God’s word in Hebrews 10:24 where it says, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” (NLT) Thanks to my Facebook friends, I am encouraged.