watch your words

Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

James 1:19 ....Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Don't you just hate it when the Bible gets personal?!! Today's "Jesus Calling" devotional is about watching what we say. That

our words have the ability to bless or to wound. Often it's not the words that I use that are bad, the problem comes with how I say things... just a bit of sarcasm and possibly a little eye rolling thrown in. I hate that I do that. It is not attractive in a teenager--it is down right ugly in a fifty three year old! Something to remember this week to work on.

One thousand gifts:

#33 "homemade" meatloaf from Cracker Barrel

#34 papa swimming with Amelia

the weekend

Yes, I know that it is already Tuesday, but I am going to write about last weekend. I finally got to Champaign-Urbana-Mahomet... or as I usually write C-U-M. I had planned to drive to Illinois much more often than I have. I really miss everyone, but especially in this heat, I just want to stay at home. Last weekend I didn't really have a choice. I needed to be there.

On Saturday, we celebrated Brooke's 2nd birthday. We met at Jupiters for pizza and cake. Luke and Rachel had obviously been working with Brooke on blowing out candles, but they must have forgotten to tell her she was to wait until the end of our singing "Happy Birthday!" We had just gotten out "Happy Birthday to you" and whoosh Brooke blew out the candle. There wasn't even time to get a good picture of her, the cake, and the lit candle! We all just laughed, re-lit the candle, held Brooke back, took photos, and then let her blow out her candle again.

When I wrote "We...took photos" I was using that term for the general crowd. I made sure to pack my camera so that I could get some good pictures to share, but forgot to check on the battery. I left it at home, being recharged. I am just not very good at this taking pictures thing.

I had planned to spend the night with my mom, but she had made plans to go out with her friends to listen to one of their favorite bands... now I ask you, isn't there something wrong with that whole picture?!! It worked out just fine, I asked my dad if it was OK if I stayed at his house and luckily his Saturday night wasn't booked.

On Sunday, Patty and I had a bridal shower for Rachel. Again, no battery=no pictures. Kelly, Andy, and Amelia drove over that morning so that Kelly and Amelia could be at the shower. There were several women that couldn't make it, but I think Rachel appreciated the shower and was pleased with her gifts. That's all that really counts.

One thousand gifts

#22 sweet time of prayer on my drive to Illinois

#23 the voices of Michael Buble', Josh Grobin, and George Beverly Shay

#25 a too short visit with Autie

#26 loving and being loved by family

#27 the stories and laughter of Steve

new chiropractor

I was in serious need of chiropractic work. I really liked my chiropractor in Illinois, Hubert Willis, but it was too hard for me to get to Mahomet on Friday before he closed. So the last time I got adjusted was almost nine months ago. I was having pain in my neck, arm, back, and hip. Tom got tired of me complaining, so he found a clinic here and made an appointment for today at 12:00.

Unfortunately, last night Tom was hooking up a pipe from the faucet on the south side of our house to a spigot in the front (just another little surprise, although there are flower beds and a pretty large front yard--there was no faucet on the front of the house, but that is really another story) and he pulled his neck. He couldn't even turn his head. So we decided that he needed my appointment more than I did.

I drove him to the office. When we got theren the receptionist told me that the chiropractor had time to work on me, too! Yeah!! It is always strange starting out with a new chiropractor. I mean after all he is going to have his hands all over you! Ended up that the receptionist is the wife of the chiropractor and they were both very nice...even if he did say that my back was really messed up--yikes!

Tom can now turn his head a little, but were not sure that it will be enough for him to be able to fly tomorrow to Germany. My hip, back and arm feel a little better, but my neck is really hurting. That is just the way it is when I haven't had work done in a long time, I feel worse before I feel better. I figure it will take about 7 adjustments to get my whole back feeling Okay. No telling how many visits for Tom. But at least we have gotten started on our road to no pain!

Today's devotion in "Jesus Calling" was about God being the anchor of our soul. Just like a boat needs to be anchored down, our souls do also... otherwise, we are able to be destroyed in the storms of life. The scripture was Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor to our soul, firm and secure.

One Thousand Gifts:

#17 new chiropractor

#18 new flip flops with beads, on sale!

#19 air-conditioning on these steamy days