Signing - A Better Focus On My Words

Communication is vital in our lives; without it the very core of ourselves and society will crumble. Communication with our family, friends, our community, the world and most importantly our God. I could go on for many hours about how important I believe communication is in our lives and how fascinating I think this subject is; but this isn't the point of this short post. Instead I want to share about a new way of communication we've been exploring in our home; signing.

Our boys just turned 5 months today and each day we see their awareness of the world and their communication growing drastically. So often young children become extremely frustrated daily because they are unable to communicate their needs, thoughts and desires with their parents and those around them. It is because of this and our desire for increased communication, that Jason and I have started to 'sign' with Gavin and Wyatt. Our goal is not to learn the entire language of signing, but rather learn and teach the boys words that they will want and need to communicate with us on a daily basis. We've learned from others that this can benefit many children and parents. We started a couple of weeks ago in order for signing to become the norm for us; especially at home. We know that the boys understand and are aware of a lot more than we realize. Although they are unable to sign developmentally for a while, we can already see them focusing on our hands and even look back and forth between our moving hands and theirs.

So here is a list of words that we've learned so far:

• Jesus


• Daddy


• Grandma


• Brother


• Good


• Boy


• Happy


• Milk


• Eat


• Drink


• More


• All Done


• Dog


• Cat


• Potty


• Hi


• Sorry


• Please


• Thank You


• I Love You


• And they Love singing and signing Jesus Loves Me!

Other Things Will Learn Soon:

• Pain/Hurt (and they can then point to what hurts)

Worship
As I've been signing these past couple of weeks, I realize that I truly pay attention to the actual words I am saying and signing. Have you ever been reading or speaking and really only the words are coming out, but you never embrace the meaning? I realize just how often that happens. This past week I realize how often this can happen in my communication and worship with my God. I've learned through the years just how important full communication with God is; not just talking, but listening and genuine time each day. How often I fall short though and allow this beautiful gift He has given us to be minimized. So why not learn to sign during my daily worship to my God? Why not truly embrace and linger on each word I speak to God? Why not internalize what His name means to me as I let my body speak to Him and not just the words from my mouth?

Signs are often very symbolic of the words true meaning. The sign for Jesus embraces the nails in His hands and thus I focus on His sacrifice and gift each time I speak His name. I've learned to sign 'Father' before pointing up when speaking about Him. Lord is the shape of an 'L' moving as if a seat belt across your chest; what a great symbol of His protection and the armor of God!

In addition to singing/signing Jesus Loves Me with the boys and further explaining that He loves Gavin, Wyatt, Daddy, Mommy, and everyone and we love Him, I am learning how to sing/sign the song 'All in All' through videos on YouTube. I can not tell you how great this has been this week. Being able to focus on each word in the song brings my worship and thankfulness to a new level. I thank God for teaching me new ways to communicate and commune with Him each day. May the words of my mouth and hands be pleasing to You oh God.