Words Matter

"The words of the reckless pierce like swords,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

Words are important.

I am often angered by people who carelessly utter unkind words. It seems like people usually say either:

1. Oh, when I get mad, I say things I don't mean.

or

2. I'm just joking!

Neither of these are appropriate. Deep down we KNOW that, right? We KNOW it's NOT OK to allow unkind words "slip out" when we are upset or angry. In my case, I lean toward meaning every word I say. I shouldn't say some things, but I mean every word. NOT OK.

AND, despite what most people seem to think, it is also NOT OK to make cruel jokes at the expense of others. While it's good to have a good sense of humor, and not take everything seriously, it is not appropriate to make jokes about other people. I used to feel like the ocassional poke at someone was OK, and maybe it is. But maybe it's much better to just say NO to mean jokes. Avoid it. The Bible says, speaking of the wicked and the evildoers;

"They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows."

How we in our society seem to look highly on those with quick wits and sharp tongues! Sharp tongues HURT like deadly arrows! Why do we think it's OK to say mean things under the guise of humor?

A lot of times it is because people think they can say TRUE things (or at least things they think are true) using humor and it makes it better, eg. "That shirt's working hard." (ie, you're fat, and your shirt's too small.) or "Lost your hairbrush?" (You should brush your hair, it's tangled and looks messy.) If it's not OK to make the comment without the humor then don't make the comment with the humor. It's an obvious dig, and it still hurts.

AND why do some people think it's OK to call people names or say unkind things about them or to their face even? Things like, "You're spoiled." "You're worthless." "You're dumb." Those things hurt. Again, people tend to say these EXTREMELY hurtful things and then laugh or smile like it's so funny. Guess what. NOT FUNNY!!

You may think I'm overreacting, but why waste time saying mean and hurtful things when there are plenty of other things to say, not to mention NICE and ENCOURAGING things.

I am not perfect AT ALL. I say things sometimes that I shouldn't say whether I think them or not, but I am making an effort to avoid saying mean or hurtful things, because I realize how destructive words are. Not only do they hurt, but they stick in your mind.

You can never take words back. Sure, you can say "Sorry", but it's always there. That is in that person's mind forever. "I'm fat. I'm stupid. I'm spoiled. I'm onery. I'm dumb. I'm ugly." WHY do you want that floating in the mind of someone you love, convincing them that they are those things? WHY????

I will continue to make an effort to be kind with my words, spoken, written, typed, thought.

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, Oh Lord."

Psalm 19

One Pan Brown Rice Lunch

Today I made a really yummy lunch.

I cooked the brown rice per instructions, only I used chicken broth instead of water. Super flavorful!! When it was ALMOST done, I added two raw eggs and stirred them in. I allowed it to finish cooking with the eggs in it until the eggs were tiny chunks in the rice. To this completed rice I added pepper (no need for extra salt!!), crushed red pepper, a slosh of lemon juice, and about 1/2 tsp. of honey.

It's a meal in itself. It's pretty easy, because you just leave the rice to cook for about 45 minutes and then add the eggs real quick. YUM!!

~CLMW

My Foodie Husband

The other day Daniel made supper for us, and it was amazing!! I might hang up my apron, I tell you.

What he made was Braised Chicken Thighs with Garlic, Tomato Sauce, and White Wine. It was so yummy you wouldn't believe.

First, he seared the thighs in a cast iron skillet to get the skin crispy. Next he added tomato paste, garlic and white wine to the skillet and put it in the oven at a relatively high heat. 20 minutes later, we had AMAZING chicken!!

Thank you, Daniel!! =-D

Respect the Potato

I love Food Network. I watch almost every show they produce. My favorites are the game type shows. I LOVE Next Food Network Star and Next Iron Chef. Recently, on the latter program, a chef annoyed his fellow contestants by continually spouting the same line, "Respect the potato." Granted, the challenge was about respecting your ingredients, but all the same it got me thinking. Imagine that. I get so frustrated with constantly hearing people say men should respect women. Not that I disagree. I certainly think men should love women and treat them with great courtesy. HOWEVER:

Women should also respect men.

Satan is a master at twisting truth. He almost never actually LIES, it seems. Satan takes a perfectly valid truth and distorts it, so it is a hurtful deception. One of the worst lies of our society is that men are held over women on a pedestal and women are put down and practically enslaved. Does this happen? Sure. But what about the scores of men on TV, movies, songs, etc. who are called "clueless", "stupid", and constantly treated like they are?

I do not think men should be "above" women, in the sense that they are superior, yet they are just as priceless a creation to God as women. God made Adam first, and LOVED him. He was GOOD.

Why is it that women can't treat men with love and honest respect, but they expect men to kiss their toes and bake them eclairs? Being a wife and mommy, I know that sometimes I'd like a break. I sometimes ask my husband to help me do things I normally do myself. There's nothing wrong with this. Similarly, he sometimes asks me to help him with things he normally does. Again, nothing bad about this. NEITHER of us is more entitled to courtesy and help than the other. BOTH of us are told by God to love and respect the other.

So, in retrospect, the potato is not the only starch worthy of respect. Respect the crackers. Love the pasta. Care for the bread.

Women LOVE your husbands. Treat them with respect. I'm no expert, but I am fed up with blatant discourtesy shown these men, especially men of God, by the women who should care for their feelings the most.

Last Year's Stock

It's a new year. One with no mistakes in it...yet. Another Anne of Green Gables reference. (Tomorrow is a new day. One with no mistakes in it.)

Anyway, I was thinking about the new year, and I had several initial thoughts:

1. I am not making resolutions. If I do, I have set myself up for failure. I am thinking back, and I don't think I ever stuck with a resolution I made EVER. So there I am. Instead, I plan to set monthly goals. This should be more productive, since I think I will be able to re-evaluate at the end of each month and either mark it accomplished, tack it on to next month's goals, or trash it. I think this will help me to stay focused on what I want to get done.

2. Last year never goes away. It does, but it doesn't. It's like making soup and starting with strained stock from the last batch. It makes the soup more flavorful. I think this is how we SHOULD start our new year-- we should extract the best times and best lessons and use them to begin anew. Lots of bad things happened last year (jarred sweet cabbage does not make the best cabbage soup), but what's important is for me to learn things and use that knowledge to move forward.

3. God has already been here. He is here. This year should not bring fear with it, because God already knows what's in it. He has promised that He has plans for our good and not for our defeat. He has said He is with us wherever we go.

4. New Year=New Chance to do things I always wanted to do. Sometimes during the year I feel like I have missed out on my opportunity to do things, or it's too late to start now. NOW is the time to put aside those feelings and do something new. I love to have tools I can use to organize my life a little bit better. These help me with my goals. I have a planner already, and I think I will continue to use this with NEW pages from this printable planners site.

I know I need to be encouraged in this new year, and I hope to be a help and encouragement to other people, too. I hope to NOT be a stumbling block or a discouragement to anyone.

Happy New Year, faithful readers. Seize this day, for it is new and it is beautiful.

~*~CLMW~*~