Did I mean to say that??

This past week my sister and I were talking about the meaning of words and why we say certain things. It was an interesting conversation because I'd never given much thought to why I say certain things. Often times, words just come tumbling out of my mouth without me ever really thinking about what I'm trying to say.

For example, if something great happens in life, one of my phrases is "Praise the Lord!" But what do I really mean when I say that? Another common phrase I use, "bless the hands that prepared this food". But again, what am I actually trying to communicate? It's been an interesting thought process for me this week. I catch myself using all kinds of key "Christian" phrases throughout my daily life. Is that a bad thing? Not in theory, but if I'm not thinking about what I'm saying then yes, I do think it's a bad thing.

I don't want to say things because I know it's the right thing to say, or the accepted thing to say. I want to be specific and direct, I want to process why I say certain things and think about what I really mean instead.