I know I said I was back on track a few months ago. I wasn’t. With the move to Oregon came a lethargy and a surrender to inertia. I went to the barn at least three times per week after my horse got up here, but that was about it. I got busier but nothing inside of me was urging me to write. Rather than worry about it, I gave myself permission to take a break until we had purchased our home and moved in. We have been in our new home a month now (almost exactly). I finally have my own computer and monitor back. It’s been a long time coming. I packed it in a box last July in preparation for staging our Fallbrook home. It was just set up in our office day before yesterday. Back in business, as they say.
I love living here, if I haven’t already said so. The seasons change, and I along with them. I am looking out of our office window at bare trees, the apartment complex across the street and a small man-made lake. It is raining today and cold. First real day of rain for awhile, unless you ask my husband who likes telling people, “It rains here every day. EVERY DAY!” It’s not true but it satisfies his need to complain. He actually really likes it here, except for the cold and the rain, which isn’t every day. The people are friendly. The drivers are more courteous. The cost of living is substantially lower than our previous home.
We just flew back to So Cal a week ago to visit family. The traffic was bad when we moved in September. It has gotten worse. Going from one place to the next takes more time than necessary. I don’t miss that at all. I’m happy and confident that the instinct to move here was grounded in reality. That doesn’t stop me from missing friends and family, however.
I think I have finally found a church I like. The Pastor is very good and has just enough humor in his sermons to make us laugh and feel good. His sermon today was from James, Chapter 3 where James talks about how dangerous it is to be a teacher of God’s word because you are scrutinized, judged and condemned by many for the words that come out of your mouth. And then of course, the pastor spoke of the importance of the words we speak and how they can create or destroy depending on which ones we use. Not a revelation to be sure, but something that bears re-hearing.
You know stories of people who were getting ready to end it all until they heard a particular song, or someone spoke a kindness to them which triggered something inside that changed the trajectory of their lives forever. Our words have power. They have power to heal, to change reality, to discourage, condemn, hurt. How often do we think of this truth before speaking? Before gossiping? Before being sarcastic and then saying, “just kidding!” as if that changes everything. It doesn’t. You removed the knife but the person still bleeds.
The person you are today is an accumulation of what people have said about you, of things you believed about yourself, of how the world sees you. Are you content with that? Then change how you see yourself. Listen to what God has to say about you. He’s the only one who matters. He’s the only one with the truth of who you are. You are a child of God. You are loved. You are forgiven. You are blessed in His sight. Pick one. Choose them all! There are more, still.
Now that you have made yourself feel better, help someone else. Give the gift of kind words to someone who may need to hear them. Speak with grace and truth. One without the other will not work. Grace without truth is condonation. Truth without grace is cruel and hurtful.
Choose your words carefully. Know their awesome power. Choose to heal and uplift others, not tear them down, or make them feel lesser than.
God spoke the world into being with simple words. And look what he created. Speak wisely. Listen well. God bless.