Sticks and Stones

Remember that old chant? "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!"

That is probably one of the biggest lies ever. Seriously.

During our revival services this week, our evangelist - Dr. Charles Bishop - mentioned this little chant and how the power of a word can affect someone....maybe even eternally. When our tongues are not guarded, we can become very dangerous. Believe me, I know from experience - my mouth is what has ALWAYS gotten me in trouble!

Lashing out in anger.

Saying too much.

Divulging information.

Speaking before thinking....and, then regretting.

Having to have the last word.

Hurting feelings.

Severing relationships.

I know without a doubt the Lord has really tried to show me some things this week about this very area. But, He has taken a very unique approach to teaching me. Instead of allowing me to be the goof that's doing the talking and inserting foot in mouth and embarassing myself (which is typically the tactic He likes to use with me!), He's allowed me to be on the painful receiving end.

Yesterday and today I had 2 people say something to me that held power over me. Thoughtless, hurtful statements, that I feel certain if they could have rolled the tape back and deleted what they said, they probably would. One of the statements was completely a "speaking before thinking" instance, and knowing as soon as it came out it shouldn't have because of the hurt the words most likely caused...but, the damage was already done. The other statement was said to me out of frustration and stress...but no matter the excuse, the words were like pouring salt in a wound.

Piercing.

Powerful.

Painful.

Hard to forget.


The Lord has alot to say about the power of the tongue in His Word:

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

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." Proverbs 10:19

The humor in the 2 situations I was in (the Lord ALWAYS puts a little humor in when it comes to me!) is that I have been very sick with bronchitis this week, and barely have a voice at all...so, both times I really wasn't even able to speak back to the harsh words! What that allowed though, was for me to have time to sit and think about what happened - why it happened - the motives behind the words - to pray about how to respond - and, to be much calmer when I did.

Hmmmm, wonder what I was supposed to learn through all this?

Think about the words you say each day - nice words, comforting words, funny words, loving words, hurtful words, angry words, mean words - and the power they hold over people. I know I will be!

Random...

1. I have been CRAZY busy since we got back from the cruise - CRAZY BUSY - and have neglected the ol' blog :( So sorry, Blogland! I have about 39,478,926 pictures of various things that have been going on - just no time to share yet. They will eventually be shared over the next couple of weeks, I promise!

2. Can I tell you how amazed I am every time someone tells me they read this little blog? I know that sounds just, well - odd, considering you have a blog for others to ummm ...read... but, I'm just so humbled that someone would take the time to want to know what's going on in my life! So, thanks for continuing to stop by and thanks for letting me know that you do :)

3. We are having revival this week at Mt. Vernon, and the Lord has just blessed us sooo much through the services! It has been wonderful - people sometimes forget that ministers do not get to be on the "congregation" end of a church service very often...it's been refreshing and definitely REVIVING for Brad and I! We are praying, praying, praying for some really specific things and just waiting on the Lord to do something amazing!!

4. I have 4 work days until summer break officially starts for me, and it couldn't come fast enough! I know how very blessed and thankful I should be to be a teacher and get the summer off, and I am sooo ready for it!!

5. My first official day of Graduate School was last Thursday. I am an official Auburn Grad Student. I am excited to start this, but very anxious too. I'm crossing my fingers for a great 1st semester :)

6. By the end of this week, I will have attended 4 graduation ceremonies for 6 people that I adore...tis the season for 'Pomp and Circumstance' to be heard all across the land! Look for pictures to come!

7. I am SO EXCITED that I have lined up someone to clean my house starting next week!!! She is a precious lady, and will do a great job - I can't wait for her to get started!

8. My sweet Ellie Jane has grown to a wopping 3 lbs. (she only weighed 2 lbs. when we got her). Have I told y'all she is precious?? We are soooo glad to have her in our family!

9. I am nearing my 1 year Blog Anniversary - alot has happened in a year! I'll be sharing some fun things during that week, so be looking for that in a few weeks :)

10. Because I am so completely OCD, I can't do a "random list" in an odd number - so I always end up having to do 10...do I need therapy??

Cruisin' in the Caribbean - Part 2

Ever feel like you're living life a day behind everyone else?? That's how I've been feeling lately! Sorry this is a day late, but here's the rest of the cruise pictures...

2nd Port of Call - Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. This was our FAVORITE port - it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, the water was turquoise blue, and the town had great shopping and sites...we would definitely like to just go back to Grand Cayman and stay for a while!!

Final Port of Call - Cozumel, Mexico. We shopped like maniacs in Cozumel, and found great finds!! And, let me just tell you - the people in Cozumel are all about having some FUN!!! It was a really fun stop on the trip :)

Fun on the ship...
The one thing that pretty much anyone that has ever went on a cruise will tell you about is the the FOOD. The ENDLESS SUPPLY of FOOD. Anything you want, at any time of day. FOOD. And, it was REALLY good too! This was my absolute favorite dessert - Warm Chocolate Melting Cake with ice cream - and, I had it almost every single night. Yummy!!!!

This was our last night aboard the Carnival Fantasy...
We had an AMAZING trip, and can not WAIT to go again!!

Cruisin' in the Caribbean - Part 1

After looking at the amount of pictures taken on the cruise, I decided it would be better to break it down into a couple of posts! So today, I'm sharing the first part of the cruise....

We left from Mobile, Alabama and had 2 1/2 days at sea before getting to our first Port of Call. So, we had alot of time to have fun on the boat - and, FUN we had!! We started our first day going to the SPA - OH MY GOODNESS what an amazing way to start a vacation :) Our first night was Captain's Night, so that was our 1st formal night of the trip. We also had SO MUCH FUN at the shows and with our dinner mates :)

On Tuesday, we arrived at our first Port of Call - Montego Bay, Jamaica.

We went on an excursion to see Dunn's River Falls, and Brad actually went in and climbed the falls!

Then, we went to Dolphin Cove to the beach and had our own little cabana where we had lunch and a foot massage...it was WONDERFUL!!!!

We thought this sign, and the many others that we saw like it, was funny - obviously there are Almond Trees everywhere!!

The water was just so incredibly BEAUTIFUL, and we even got to see dolphins right off the pier!!

We also saw some pretty incredible wildlife literally just behind our cabana...

Well, that's just the beginning y'all!! Check back tomorrow for more picture overload of the rest of the week!!

We're Back!

Hey y'all!! We're back from cruisin' the seas for a week! It has been an AMAZING trip, and I can't wait to share all about it! We had loads of fun, got tons of rest, and got a little bit of a tan while we were gone :)

And, I guess you MIGHT have noticed a few changes on the blog!!! What a wonderful WELCOME HOME present to come home to! I have been sooooo excited about my design change - a HUGE thank you to Danielle for what she's done so far!!! There will be a few more things added in the upcoming days that I can't wait to see!

Well, I just wanted to say "hey!" and let y'all know were home, safe and sound....we're still busy unpacking and doing lots of laundry, but I will DEFINITELY be posting soon about our trip - Check back tomorrow for picture overload...

Leaving My Baby...

...that's what I feel like - leaving my newborn for the first time. Our precious little Ellie Jane is being left for the first time with a babysitter, but not just for a day or two - for 8 1/2 days! I know that sounds just soooooo incredibly silly to those non-animal lovers (like my Mama!) out there, but in the month that Ellie has been with us she has forever changed our home. We absolutely adore her, and she has been a part of such a healing to my soul that I can't explain.

While we're gone, Ellie will be staying with my sister and her family. She will be held and loved and doted on far more at their house than at ours (if that is even possible!) Brad predicts it won't take very long for Carolyne to have Ellie dressed in doll clothes and riding her around the house in the stroller! HA!!

We're gonna miss our little Ell-Bell this week, but I am beyond words EXCITED to be going on a cruise!!! In 2 hours we will be loading up the car and heading out...I'll try to check in sometime during the week while we're cruisin' the seas!

Cruisin'

Aruba, Jamaica...Bermuda, Bahama...Key Largo, Montego...Kokomo...

Well, how about cruising to Jamaica, Grand Caymon, and Cozumel???

That's right - we're going on a Caribbean Cruise!

We are leaving out Saturday from Mobile and we'll be cruisin' the seas for 7 days!!!

I. Can't. WAIT!!!!!!! This is a MUCH NEEDED vacation for both of us, and it's going to be wonderful!

I've got to get busy...lots of packing to do!

A Clue...

I've mentioned several times about Brad and I going on a FUN trip this year, but I haven't shared when or what or where...

That's mainly because although Brad and I had talked about several different absolutely wonderful possible trips, we didn't set anything in stone, and I assumed we would wait until later on in the year when his schedule was a little more flexible. Well, less than 2 weeks ago Brad called me at work and asked if I wanted to go on a trip - I said "SURE!" thinking he was wanting to get away for the weekend and go to Atlanta or Nashville. But, boy was I wrong!!

My amazing husband had a plan already in the works to go NEXT WEEK to....

Well, why don't you just watch and listen to this for a little clue...

Soooo, watch cha think?? Got any ideas where we're going??? Stop back by tomorrow and I'll share the details :)

Are You Aware?

Are you aware that this past week was National Infertility Awareness Week??

Sometimes when you are living in the midst of the infertility world, it's hard to see outside your own situation - you feel like you are all alone. But, 7.3 million Americans suffer from infertility!!! That's 1 in 6 couples in our country - that's HUGE!!!

I have watched this video several times, and I can relate sooooo very much. Please take the time to watch it, and maybe "you'll understand our journey...so far".

http://www.tearsandhope.com/emptyarms_video.html

I heard a statistic one time on the John Tesh Show that the grief that couples go through with the stress of infertility is comparable to grief that cancer patients that are terminally ill endure. WOW.

Please pray for those that you know that are having fertility problems. Whether they share it or not, they are grieving silently. Believe me, I know first hand.