Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!!

We made it back from our cruise safe and sound, albeit with a little more than we left with ( and I'm not talking about purchases or luggage!)  Just let me say that I looked around to see if the buffet had been prepared when I got up this morning in Carrollton, Alabama.  For five days, I have been subjected to more temptation than I would have believed......but man was it good!!  We had a great time........the boat was great, our suite was fabulous and quiet roomy with our own balcony for private viewing of the never ending ocean. I have never seen so much food in my entire life and being the southern girl that I am, I couldn't risk offending anyone by not partaking of such a fabulous feast as often as I could.  It was tough, but somebody had to do it.....from what I observed there were many who shared my concern of not offending!!  Might I say, that even though we had a great week........good food, good entertainment, awesome weather, and beautiful surroundings......getting home always feels so good.  Of course there were no "towel creations" or chocolates on my turned down bed last night, but the feeling of crawling in my own bed felt pretty danged good!!   This was a wonderful week for us and something I hope we get to do again someday!  We may have to start a "Cruise Club" in place of a "Christmas Club."  For those of you who have never done the cruise thing, I highly recommend it!!  It was well worth the 30 year wait.  Well, it's time to get back to the real world........I did not detect any wonderful aromas coming from my kitchen as I sat down to blog, though my man did prepare a mighty fine lunch for us today.  I think he could tell by looking at me that I wasn't quiet ready to let go of my "vacation" week.  Anyway, the water is boiling so I must be on my way to prepare whatever culinary delight I can come up with being that I haven't been to the grocery store in about two weeks.  Hope you have a great week.

Sailing Away

My sweet man surprised me on our 30th anniversary with tickets for a cruise.  We made the crazy choice to get married on December 27th, 1980.....the getting married wasn't the crazy part.....choosing two days after Christmas was.  It sounded so romantic at the time.  What we have discovered over this 30 years is that more times than not, that day just gets swept up in the holiday craziness, and we hardly even realize that we've had an anniversary.  We have always tried to do something to celebrate our special day, even if it's three weeks later than the actual date.  But for this momentous occasion, we celebrated the actually day with our girls.  We went out to dinner and then to "Sips and Strokes" to paint.  Tony was a really good sport about that, being the only man in a room of about 50+ women. It was quite entertaining!!!  Back to the cruise though......we sail tomorrow for five days.  We will board in Mobile and then have stops in Cozumel and Calica.  I am so excited!!!!!!!  For a country girl from Pickens County.......this will be a treat!!  From what I have heard about the food.....I'm thinking that we will bring back more of us than we are leaving with.  I know that they have exercise facilities on board, and I wish I would be motivated enough to use the equipment, but given the choice of "all you can eat food, and all you can exercise facilities"....hmmm, which do you think we will do?!?!  I'm just sayin'! 
Anyway, I can hardly wait to get there.....hopefully I will have many a story to tell when we return. 
Hope you all have a great week!!

The Tongue

Earlier today a precious friend and I were catching up on each others life and the dreaded subject of "the tongue" came up.  We didn't really call it that........I think we called it "hurtful things people say"!!  The old childhood taunt of "Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" is such a lie!!!  We all know it, but sometimes we feed into that mentality when we inadvertently( and even sometimes intentionally) say things to people, and about people, that we should have never said.  Notice I said "we"......there are precious few who have mastered the ability to just "keep thy mouth shut, when thou should be listening!!"  How many times did I say to my kids......if you can't say something good about somebody, just don't say anything at all!! And how many times has God whispered in my ear or tapped me on the shoulder and said the same thing to me?!?  If I had a dollar for all those times, I would be a rich woman indeed(financially anyway). Why is it so hard for us to keep our mouth shut? Why do we think that we have the right to voice an opinion about everything and anybody? What is the need in us to point out the short comings in others?  Does it make us feel better about our self?  Does it make us feel important......or smarter......or better liked?
Sometimes I think that is exactly why we do it...........if we can point out someones weakness, maybe ours won't be so visible.  Why don't we feel secure enough in our own skin to avoid the pitfalls of pointing out the ugly in someone else.  How many people do you know that haven't been hurt in someway by something someone else said.........true or not!?!  Sometimes I think we just say things carelessly without regard to what the consequence of those words can mean to someone. Sometimes these things are said without thinking, but sometimes that are said with much thought. Which is worse?  The pain for the "talked about" is still the same.  Maybe I need to do some sweeping around my own backdoor, huh?  Words have the power to bring life and death.  We have to be careful of what we say and how we say it.  I've heard people say, "well that's just how I am, I can't help it."  Oh yes you can.  The book of James speaks very boldly about our "tongue."  It is a small instrument , but it can cause great harm.  God doesn't just throw us to the wolves, He is right there with us every step of the way.  The Holy Spirit can and will give us the power to rein in that tongue.....He wants to do that for us!!  Do I think I have this figured out.......ahh no!!  I know the theory and I know the power........I just choose to ignore it sometimes.  For a talker as myself, I find myself in over my head more times than not.  Proverbs 10:19 says "When words are many sin is not absent."  I think that might have been written about me.  But back up to Psalm 141:3 and it says "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."  A modern day rendition of this is "Oh Lord, keep your arm around my shoulders, and your hand over my mouth!!!"  Words aptly spoken!!!!  Let's be bearers of light and healing, not hurt and heartache.

I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.  Psalm 17:3b

Self Control

Self control.........this is a subject that keeps randomly popping up in my life lately.  Another, more hateful word that comes to mind along these lines is discipline.  To be such the control freak that I am, you would think that these subjects would be second nature.  I have discovered through trial and error(and flat out denial) that if a subject confronts me every time I turn around.....there must be a reason for it.  God usually has to point things out to me several times before I get it!!  Such is the subject of this post.  What has spurred this conviction from the Holy Spirit in my life?  Could it be the last three times I hit the snooze almost every morning..... and then that mad dash to get to work only 5 minutes late, instead of 20?  Could it be the way I just can't seem to find a stopping place in whatever mind filling book I'm consuming at night, when I should have already had the light out, so that I might not hit the snooze those 3 times in the morning?  Could it be those great intentions of incorporating physical activity into my mostly couch potato life?  Could it be that last handful of tortilla chips I scarfed down right before I  crawled in bed with my book last night? Could it be that tone I used when responding to a loved one or co-worker today?  Could it possibly be the way I keep planning in my head to sit down to some really hardcore private bible study and scripture memory.........but it just never seems to happen?  Or......could it be the frequent daily neglect of the nurturing of my relationship with Christ?  Honestly....... I know I'm guilty of all the above!!!!  I know that we have a responsibility to take care of our physical bodies.  I know that to be the woman that God wants me to be, I have to spend some time with Him everyday........just being quiet before Him. Not only that, but for this season of my life, I know He wants me to dig a little deeper in His Word.  As I have said before, 5 minutes on the throne with my Journey(devotional book) does not a bible study make!!  So what's a girl to do???  What does the bible say about this?  Well it says that my body is a temple........I'm treating mine like a gas station bathroom!!! 
If I am truly going to try to honor God with my life, I have to take care of myself.........that includes eating right, exercising, getting enough sleep.  Not only that, but I have got to make the choice everyday to exercise self control in my life.  Whether that means keeping my mouth shut when I think my opinion is of utmost importance.......or being nonjudgmental with the people and situations I see everyday....or it may mean forgoing that chocolate kiss that's calling my name.........or it could be getting out there and walking the loop at the hospital with my fast walking/long legged friends. For me, self control is hard....not just hard...........but really hard.....even so, I've been promised that "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."  As I make the disciplined effort to join my life with His, to love Him, to seek Him, to imitate Him then one of the by products of this will be the character traits that I desire.  Those character traits will be a work of the Holy Spirit in me, not just good things that I can manufacture on my own.  For today, I am making the conscious choice to exercise discipline in my life........keep me accountable!!
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22

Blogging Woes

I have had some of the sweetest responses and encouragements about this newfound blog, and for that I am so appreciative.  A couple of you have tried to post a comment and for whatever the reason, it won't let you.  I wish I knew why, but frankly.......I have no clue.  I have gone back and looked at every thing I know to look at and I can't find any reason that it won't allow comments.  I will continue the quest for an answer and cure.   For any person who knows me well, it is very evident that I am not exactly computer savvy....as a matter of truth, I don't really embrace modern technology well. I am easily intimidated and I don't have an adventuresome bone in my body!!  I've only had a debit card for a couple of years because I was scared of it.  We are on our second computer at home, and while I can do basic stuff....it still disturbs me somewhat when it tells me I have performed an illegal operation....I actually just learned to copy and paste last year!!!  I was so proud!!!!  While I am very, very computer challenged, I do know where to go for help......google!!!  Yes mam, you can find out anything you want to know on "google."  Just type it in and voila(or sometimes longer)...........there's your answer.........usually!!!
I am so glad that my line to God doesn't require all this.....I don't have to wait on the Internet to come up or site to connect........the connection is always perfect...no waiting........no wondering if He heard it........no wondering if He is going to be able to comment!!  I'd say that is something to be especially thankful for on this beautiful spring like day!!!  Hope you all have a great day!!

Seriously!!

Well I finally did it!! I have been pondering this blog thing for awhile now. I have prayed about it and talked about it to anyone that I thought might be interested. I have always loved writing.......letters, cards, journaling.... I felt like this form of writing would be a great way for me to be accountable for how I live my life everyday......the struggles, the pain, the joy!! Life is so good, but sometimes I need to be reminded of that fact. It's in the hard patches that I seem to learn the best lessons. I hope that this blog will be not only accountability for me, but an encouragement to someone else that we are not in this alone. We all struggle with everything from hateful words, to scraping gum out of the dryer and in my case right now......trying to get a strong willed puppy to use the puppy pad. I'm excited about this new path that God's leading me on. Can't wait to see what He has in store.