Ant Bite Analogy

Last week I was weeding my back patio when I felt a burning sensation on my hand. I looked down to see one of my arch enemies, a tiny tiny reddish colored ant. As he was injecting his venom into my hand I could immediately feel my hand start to tingle and swell.

These little critters don't send me reaching for my epi-pen or grabbing the car keys so I can get to the hospital like the fire ant or bee stings, but they do their own brand of damage.

Brushing him off me, I headed inside leaving my project undone.

Once inside I went into my routine, make a paste with oatmeal and water to place on the bite area and grab two benadryl. Knowing the benadryl will "knock me out" I make sure I have the oatmeal paste on the bite and a cloth draped over the oatmeal in case it dries and starts to flake off before I lay down for a nap. Benadryl makes me so sleepy I know not to do anything but lay down after swallowing the little pink and white pills.

For the next few days the area is red and puffy, with a little white hard bump like a pimple and it itches like crazy. When I can't stand it any longer I take the tweezers, doing a mini surgery on myself, I open it up to get to the root of the bite and scratch. Not very adult of me but it feels so good when I'm scratching the area. Then I have to put an antibiotic cream on it because I've opened the wound area again and could cause more damage. I have little scars on my feet from previous battles with the dreaded little creatures.

This time while I was going through my ant bite routine I thought about how tiny this particular ant is and how much damage it does to my body. I know you see where I'm going with this......

And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell.~ James 3:6

I said, I will take heed to my ways, That I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, While the wicked is before me.~ Psalms 39:1

A gentle tongue is a tree of life; But perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit. ~ Proverbs 15:4

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. ~ Proverbs 18:21

These are just a few of the scriptures warning us of the negative results of and unruly tongue.

The pain and devastation we can cause to others as well as ourselves by not controlling what we say can sometimes be damaging to the point of death.

Like those tiny ants injecting their venom into me, the words we speak over others can be poison to their soul.

It is our responsibility to choose our words carefully so what we say will bring life not death to ourselves and others.

Most people don't realize how powerful the little tiny sting of a word sent out in anger and frustration can be to another human being. Even if your attitude is "I'm just keeping it real" your reality may not be the reality of the person you are firing your words toward. You may be killing their hopes and dreams rather than being a vessel of life and hope.

It's not always what you say, but how you say it that can make the difference between life and death for someone, even yourself. Sometimes we have to discipline or instruct another, but it can still be done in a manner that makes them feel like there's hope not like they are a loser.

In business management training I learned to sandwich constructive criticism between two layers of praise.

I encourage anyone reading this to take a couple days and listen, really listen to the words you send out to others, and the words you speak about yourself. Make a mental, or on paper, list of the words that could be a poison dart being fired out into someones soul. Sometimes even "joking" around with someone can pierce their soul. Before you speak them, think, don't just blert out poison darts that you could avoid by thinking before you speak. If what you are about to speak is not God sent, or positive, or uplifting, or inspiring or in love just say no to your mouth and your brain. Retrain yourself to speak carefully and deliberately so your words bring life not death.

To quote my Mother who quoted the famous Disney character Thumper who quoted his Mother, "If you can't say nothin nice, don't say nothin at all."

Like those little ants that wreck so much havoc to my body, your words may seem harmless to you, but to someone else they may be the words that cause them to give up and feel hopeless.

Remember, we are going to have to give an account to God at some point for our actions, and our words are actions they are alive with power to kill or heal.

Keep your little part of the world a place where others feel safe and secure. Where they know they won't get bitten by anything that will cause them to feel less than what God created them to be.

We all need a place where we won't get bitten by the little ants of this world. Make you one of those places!

Blessings,

Wendy

Have You Come to a Detour?

Have you ever gotten to a certain point in your life and wondered,

how on earth did I get here? What happened that caused me to arrive at this point?

This isn't where I was going. I was heading in a different

direction. This is not how my life was supposed be.

In some areas of my life I can look back and know the exact moment I was cut off and ended up on another path. At the time, the incident seemed less than significant, but that one little bump ended up taking me completely off track. It took me down a foreign road that I or my children were never meant to travel.

You see, when you are a parent, your children must go down that dark road with you. My heart aches now to look back at my travels knowing no matter how I tried to see my way clear, I was in darkness and thus so were my precious children.

In other areas, as hard as I try I can't figure out how I got off track or when the detour started, I just know something went wrong somewhere in my travel through life. Was it a harsh word, or look from someone I looked up to, or perhaps something one of my parents said over me as a child that put a harness of slavery on me? As hard as it is, I have to realize I may never know the real root of my detour. I just have to accept here I am, now what am I going to do?

I fully believe all my twists and turns come as no surprise to God. After all, He created me and His love for me has been constant, even when I was running my race on the wrong track.

He has always steered me back on course. Sometimes gently, lovingly and sometimes jerking me up ripping me out of a situation causing, oh, so much pain. But I understand had He not used force at times I would have kept blindly feeling my way down a dark and dangerous pathway never intended for me or my children.

I also believe we each come to a detour sign in our lives and are forced into making a choice. We can ignore it and plow ahead forcing our way down that same path to certain death, or we can choose to make the turn that saves our life and the lives of our children.

Choosing to turn with the detour can sometimes be the hardest act of obedience ever. We have to deal with our pride, our fears, our guilt, our shame, this list goes on and on. In dealing with each of our issues one by one, as we take the detour God has arranged for us, we begin to see a restoration of our life back to the original purpose God has for us. Generally not overnight, but in time. God's time.

In Galatians 5:1&2, Paul writes, "Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your Stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered."

Later in vs. 7 he writes, " You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience? This detour doesn't come from the One who called you into the race..."

I don't know about you, but I do not ever want to squander the Blood of Christ again. I want to stay alert and stand strong keeping my eyes open watching for anything that is trying to deflect me from my true course of obedience.

Sound paranoid? You bet, I don't ever want to go down that road of darkness again. If I let my guard down for one instant something will try to knock me off my path.

My only words of advice are put on God's armor everyday, stand on guard, and pass me some coffee so I can stay alert!

Blessings,

Wendy, Princess, Daughter of the King of Kings

Mother of Princesses and Princes

Grandmother of Royalty

What's next? Don't Ask!

Have you ever had one of those weeks? You know the one, looking back you can't see one discernible thing accomplished, attacks coming from every side, and you just numb from all of it.

Please, someone, anyone tell me I'm not the only on out there with weeks like this!

My ankle has been puffy and aching everyday from poor circulation, the one disc in my back has been throbbing like it's ready to explode. I wake up today and can barely talk, my throat is scratchy and every time I speak I sound a little like the Little Rascals character "Froggy", anyone remember him??

Through my walk with the Lord there's one question I've learned NEVER to ask. When I say never, I mean not to even let the thought finish in my brain. Don't go there....nope...back away from the thought....run Forrest run!!

What's the question you ask?

The question can be put out there in various forms but it goes something like this: What else can happen? What's going to happen next? What did I do to deserve this? Can it get any worse? And one of my personal favorites, How much more can I take, Lord, where are you? Can't you see what's going on???????

With my coffee and my Bible in tow I went to my back porch and low and behold, out there in my safe place, waiting for me was my own personalized Pity Party!

The minute I sat down and opened my Bible my brain, not yet fully engaged due to lack of caffeine, started letting me have it! Rehashing the under productive week, all the little ailments thrust upon me by my body, the underdeveloped state of my checking account. It was like the words in my Bible faded away and my brain took on a life of it's own.

The battle was on, my poor under caffeinated brain was struggling with its self. The me bashing coming in loud and clear.

Then somewhere way back in my brain a faint little voice with only one word jolted me out of my misery.

What was that word?

I'm glad you asked....

"Content"

"NO" my brain shouted," how can we be content? Look around, look at the mess, no one cares. Feel your back hurting? Try to pay a bill, see what happens! Watch as your ankle swells up today. Try to talk see how bad it hurts!! We can't be content in this....."

I heard it again, "Be Content"....

Oh, for pity sake, I was just beginning to enjoy being the guest of honor at this little party.

"I have a purpose and a plan"....

Then I realized I had to make a choice.

As comfortable as I was at my party, I had to choose to crawl out of the muck and mire that my brain was trying to suck me into. The sludge was covered over and called a party, but what it was meant to do was pull me into a darkness I really didn't want be in.

Swigging down another gulp of coffee, my brain started to switch gears from the whole depressing scene, and I began to focus in on the words written on the pages of my Warrior's Manual.

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13 NIV

OK, my ankle is still puffy, my back is still throbbing, my throat still feels like there's a piece of sandpaper in it, BUT GOD....

Sustained by the proper amount of caffeine I can see these "ailments" as minor inconveniences on my way to the promised land.

I have so much to be grateful for that my list of blessings far exceeds any pitfalls that have crossed my path along the journey. And trust me there have been pitfalls many many pitfalls, many of my own making.

I'm choosing to march on with head held high.

My armor in place, after a little struggle.

My Battle Gear protecting me

I can face the giants set out to destroy me today, knowing God my Father is right there, His right hand sustaining me.

This week is over and next week is about to begin. It offers new hope, new opportunities, new challenges and new mercies. Like the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, I can see the water piled high on both sides of me, however I am fully aware Who's holding the water back for me to cross on dry land.

Just as He's holding the water back for me, He's holding it for you too. The amazing thing about God is, as His children we are each His favorite and what He dose for one He'll do for all.

Now it's time to get excited and execute a little Happy Dance!

If you're just getting out of a not so stellar week or going into one filled with uncertainty you can confidently put your Battle Gear on and march ahead. He's got your front, He's got your back, and He's holding the water at bay so you can cross into next week on dry land!

Another cup of coffee and a Happy Dance will do me just fine, come join me!!

Blessings

Princess, Daughter of the King of Kings

Mother of Princesses and Princes

Grandmother of Royalty