Bill C was so very kind to put together the "easy assembly" sit up thingy for me yesterday. The box lied, it was not easy assembly especially with the little allen wrench they provided. While Bill put it together Vivian and I visited. Such fun and I came home with a mason jar of homemade veggie soup and some peach cobbler. I had the veggie soup for supper and it was delicious. I also put some in the freezer to have for another meal.
The devo this week has been on words. The power of life and death is in the tongue, so says Proverbs. We can speak life into lives but many times we end up speaking harsh and hurtful words. Even in our actions we can give life into lives or take away hope with our chosen words or non verbal communication. Tone is a huge factor as well. Subject should be in there too because we can talk about ourselves too much or give ourselves too much credit for success. I saw my friend Velda at the wellness center yesterday. She was there to take a class but we got to visit for a moment. We both understand so well how the words, you look so good, affects decisions. We look good in our recoveries but that doesn't translate into we can do as much as we look like we can and we both confessed to the detriment in some tasks we opted to take on and realized we were not ready. I was on a tennis team with a woman who told her stories and happenings with way too many words. We'd all be waiting for the point of the story but we all knew we'd be waiting because of all the needless details. It took away from her story. I used to say to her and I am wishing I hadn't, but after a lot of meandering and bunny trails, I would announce, if this doesn't get interesting in about thirty seconds, I am so onto something else. Yea, there was life in those words, she said sarcastically. Growing up I heard a LOT of words from my father. None of those words ever contained any mercy but he was big on lecturing about common sense and using good judgement. In those long extended "talks" before my punishment, I remember he did say some helpful things and like the sower that sows the word, before it could take root in my life, he dug it up again and again and again...he wanted overnight growth and could not be patient for a process, growing time. I don't know if he thought repetition would make his thoughts be more meaningful or what. I do know it is a fact we can only listen as long as our rear ends are comfortable. Maybe that was a good thing because I was so numb before getting a spanking from the "your behavior discussion.". Hmmm...maybe not so life changing but life saving cause he could render hard wallops. So those wise words became pedestrian, they lost their power to do life giving work. Funny how life and devotional reading collide because Roy and I had a good conversation about a situation he is experiencing with a friend who ambles too much and distracts when group conversations get meaningful. I was able to help him think through some things. Of course now that I look at this paragraph I believe I too have rambled on a little too long.
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It is a cold Wednesday morning. The heaters are running on overtime. The wind has blown and howled for hours. It woke me up at 1:30 am and it was hard to go back to sleep. As that wind blew making the whistling sound around the windows I began remembering and then seeing if I could still recite the poem my grandmother told me at night before going to sleep, Little Orphan Annie. It is a scary poem about goblins coming for bad little boys and girls. Yes, sweet dreams are made of these. This poem was especially terrifying in the winter at her house. The heater was a wall mounted contraption that made scary sounds of bumps and no good knicks coming up the stairs to get you before eventually transitioning to heating the upstairs. I'll leave off this morning with this poem. I can still recite most of it from memory.
Little Orphant Annie
. Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers, —
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout: —
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away, —
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
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