30 years ago, when Deb and I were traveling in our funny lilttle 1982 Mercury LN7, Deb asked us if we wanted a cookie from the stash she had brought with us. I said, “Yes,” and Krissie, then age 9, certainly said, “Yes” and further suggested she might want more than one. Jenny, then 5 and the more introverted of the two girls, responded with a simple, “No, thank you.” A couple minutes later as the three of us were eating cookies, Jenny said that she wanted a cookie. “Oh, sure, Jenny,” Deb said, “I thought you said you didnt want a cookie.” Without missing a beat Jenny responded, “My mouth said that.” My mouth said that! What an interesting expression. Deb and I both immediately noticed that there was something quite unusual and seemingly brilliant about Jenny’s statement. Somehow, in her 5-year old mind, she had been able to separate somewhat disparate elements of her mind without the slightest concern about the apparent disparity.

“My mouth said that” has become a frequently used statement between Deb and me, particularly when we are talking about the things we have said during our work as psychologists. We use the phrase, “My mouth said that” when we report something new and succinct that we have said to a patient that seemed to come out of our mouths spontaneously. Deb or I will frequently admit to having “my mouth saying” something, always new, sometimes profound. It is both invigorating and humbling to have my mouth say something that I didnt seem to know before I said it. Sometimes, dare I say it, it seems like God is speaking through me. Other times it seems that I just found the right rurn of phrase to express something I have known for years. Still other times it seems that I am finally understanding something everyone else has known for centuries.

This is my very first blog. Deb and I are finally joining the 21st century in such things, and hope to be of some benefit to the world. I suspect readers will discover that “my mouth” will say things in the future. So I look forward to both teaching and learning.