Mum's the Word

I'm trying to take the hint.

The word "mum" has been on my mind lately.

It started on Monday when I read the blog post, "My mum doesn't read my blog" by Chantelle out of Sydney, Australia. I also read through her comment section a little, and the references to "mums" throughout were just so darn cute. It was a little "awhh" moment about the word "mum."

Then on Tuesday, I read this little blurb in one of my favorite books, A Third Treasury of the Familiar.

Those two separate buy equal readings rode tandem on my bike ride yesterday.

Peddling up the slight incline on Hartford, and before I was aware that the thoughts from those readings were joining me on my ride, I was, oddly enough, thinking about what my grandkids might call me someday.  I'm attributing my thinking such a random thought, (when, to my knowledge, I have no potential progeny on the horizon) to the fact that I had read the following Beth Moore tweet the morning of said bike ride.  It shows her unusual grandma name: "Bibby."

Beth Moore ‏@BethMooreLPM

Camp Bibby is ON. Arts & crafts supplies? Check. Great snacks? Check. Incentives for getting along? Check. Let's do it, Jackson & Annabeth!

What name would I be christened with? I've still got time to influence what it is....Then it hit me.

MUM! How about "Mum?" Wouldn't that be the cutest thing? That's right up there cute with "Bibby!" As I'm pedaling to my heart's content, I don't think through how close that really is to "Mom," and how confusing that might be to little ones, I just bask in the potential cuteness of it - especially when compared to the age heavy "Grandma."

"Mum." I think I even said it out loud. And then I thought of the complete appropriateness of it on even another level. There is a non-British meaning to this word that most of us here in America think of first when we hear the word "mum." Well, we think of it or the flower. The second meaning I'm referring to is "silent."

Now, if I have grandchildren, hopefully I'll have a son-in-law or a daughter-in-law. And from what I've heard others say about that role, I know I need to keep most of my opinions to myself.  Right about here is where I remembered what I'd read about Calvin Coolidge. Yep, silence, or "judicious silence," is to be valued and cultivated in the role of mother-in-law and grandma mum.

However, the art of knowing when to speak and when not to speak isn't something I need to save for a future role. It's needed here and now - in my marriage, in my parenting, in my life. The Bible has something to say about it all too. I just googled "Bible verses about talking too much." Here's what showed up.

And that's not all of them. But it's enough of them to get the point. Clearly. (Kind of glad there aren't any verses about blogging too much. :)

Well....as you can tell, that was some bike ride. I went from being a "mum" to being "mum." And, not only that, it spawned a blog post! God can really use anything and everything to teach us about ourselves - to teach us about himself. And that always brings joy.

I sure don't want to keep mum about that!