Spring Cleaning

Last week OMG became a word. I find that disturbing.

Not that texting shortcuts are making their way into our speech. That's bound to happen. What I am concerned about is the use of this new word, as well as the original phrase it comes from, in our casual conversations.

I'm sure many of my readers think I'm getting worked up over nothing. Most people don't think of OMG as swearing. It's just something people say to express surprise. It doesn't mean anything, so what's the big deal?

It may not be a big deal to us, but it is a big deal to God. So much so, that he even made a commandment about it. Right after, "You shall have no other gods," and a few before, "You shall not kill," the Lord of all creation commands us, "Do not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain." Remember that one?

Yeah. It's a big deal to him. And if it's a big deal to God, I think it should be a big deal to us too. Hence...this blog.

Still, I know many of you out there use the phrase. And maybe right about now you're feeling a bit perturbed with me for bringing it up. I understand. No one likes to be lectured. But before you exit my blog please do me one favor and read on. I have a few tips for you that may actually help.

Tip number one: Try bringing in a new phrase into your personal repertoire of exclamations to replace OMG.
Here are a few suggestions:
Oldies but Goodies:
Leapin' Lizards!
Fiddlesticks!
Hot Diggety!
From Cartoons:
Suffering Succotash! (Sylvester the Cat)
Wowsers! (Inspector Gadget)
Hey! Hey! Hey! (Fat Albert)
Too old school? Try these...
Snap!
ACK
w00t

Or be an original and make up your own. Everyone's vocabulary can use a little freshening up from time to time. Give it a try.

Tip number two: If you do slip and you hear the Lord's name used without thought, let it be a reminder to think of him! For example. You come home and find someone has left your front door wide open. Before you know it, you hear, "Oh my God!" escape from your lips. Quickly follow it with, "Please help me to forgive whoever forgot to close the door, and please don't let there be anything wild in there waiting for me. In your Holy Name I pray. Amen." Simple.

Tip number three: When texting, try smileys. I love smileys and use them often .

:( says a lot.

So does :0 or ;D

And don't underestimate the power of running exclamation points. See!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very effective.

And so I encourage you to celebrate spring with a fresh, new, God-pleasing vocabulary. You'll be glad you did, and so will the Lord!

ttfn

(If you don't know what ttfn means, google it!)

Interesting note: According to Wikipedia, google became a word in 2009, and was first used by Gary Page, founder of Google, in 1998. Since then, Google has asked people not to use google, unless they are referring specifically to searching with the Google search engine. They don't want the word to become generic, like the words Kleenex, and Frisbee. Anyways, I thought it was interesting.