Wonder Words

I can not describe how HAPPY I am to be back on line with this blog!

All your kind comments have added to my joy - thank you!

For six long weeks Embrace the Grace has been silent because I didn't act quickly enough on a warning I received.  What could have been dealt with in just an hour or so became a HUGE ordeal requiring days of time invested and weeks of anxious concern.

Ben Franklin tried to warn me, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."  Wonder Words that (if heeded) would have saved Cody, Frank, John, Amanda, Becky, Jeremy and me so much time. (Yes, as a matter of fact, I DID go crying to all those people begging for help.  Thanks to each of you for the help you gave.)

In the end, it was my own Prince Charming who discovered the solution.  Everyone contributed in one way or another but it was Frank who finally found the pathway to freedom for my long-silenced blog site.  In other words, he got me up and running.

Wednesday night after Bible study, he calmly told me, "Honey, check your computer in the morning.  I'm pretty sure your blog is working again."  We've thought it was working several times over the past weeks, so I didn't react then.

But the entire office heard my squealing yesterday morning when I made the discovery that Mr. Wonderful had once again come to my rescue.  I love that Man!

I pondered what to share in this first post after six weeks of silence.  Finally, I knew WORDS and their importance seemed the appropriate topic.

If you stop by routinely, you know how intense I am about watching over our words; especially words spoken to others.  "The power of life and death are in the tongue..." is a favorite scripture for me.

Our entire family has been fascinated by Madi who developed a language all her own since she hasn't quite mastered English yet.  She's a quick kid and observed that older siblings, cousins and adults speak in long full sentences with lots of different voice inflections then wait for a response from the listener.

So, around 14 months she grabbed the six or seven words she COULD say and began stringing them together with "full sentences" that go something like this, "Mama, slkafdj wieioei lkaskjox adskkj sj aks  No-wah!"  (That sentence routinely comes after brother Noah offends her somehow and she needs Mom to fix the problem.)

"JJ, zios asldkfj asd asiie dakjl asdklj asdi adfkasjdl asdio?" Then she turns her head slightly, pierces Aunt Joy with those big blue eyes and waits for an expected response. We have all found ourselves complying and answering, even though we have No Idea what our little Wonder Word Smith has asked.

She even patted my hand the other day as she launched into a full paragraph of words that made perfect sense to her but were unintelligible to Noni.  I found myself nodding and thanking her for the blessing before she toddled off on her skinny little legs.

Madi has discovered the wonder of words and she's chosen to not stop talking just because she has such a limited vocabulary.  Imperfection should never keep us from attempting what we long to do! 
(Those are great words of encouragement; totally worth the read today.)

I'll never be able to express my heart perfectly but that doesn't stop me from trying.  Some may remember that I first started blogging after watching a movie about a woman who took a year of her life to work her way through a cook book by Julia Child and blog about it.

While watching that movie years ago I felt the little nudge, "You have so many more things to talk about that would encourage people.  No, it won't be perfect.  But you can at least attempt writing.  TRY!"  

Those were Wonder Words of challenge for me.  And here I am over 450 posts later, grateful that I didn't allow the certainty of imperfection to keep me from diving in to the wonder of word crafting.

I read again just this morning in the book of John how God used words to create the heavens and the earth.  Then in chapter 3, He used words to affirm Jesus, "The Father loves the Son extravagantly!"

After reading, I sat quietly pondering the power of words.  The joy on Madi's little face when her stumbling "sentences" bring a smile and response from those she's speaking to.  I rehearsed the ecstasy experienced by Zach, Noah, Abby and Spencer as they share words with Noni and Papa.

"PahPah!  PahPah..." Zach beams and claps pudgy hands indicating it's time to play "patty cake, patty cake, baker's man..."

"Noni, I wen two (stops to hold up two fingers) two poopsh in de potty!!" Noah is about to conquer the first mountain of toddlerhood and move into Big Boy territory.  He haltingly reports; we cheer!

"Noni, we lurhned a new shong today.  Wanna heaur it?"  Abby is excited about all of life.  Her beautiful words remind us to celebrate each new moment.

"Papa, listen to my new Bible verse...." Spencer has left behind the precious toddler sound but still loves words and their ability to connect us to one another.  We look straight at him and listen until he is completely finished.  He smiles with his sense of accomplishment and victory; feelings brought to him by words.

So the question for today is this.....what words of wonder are waiting to be delivered by YOU?  Who needs you to look directly at them, listen carefully, then cheer wildly?  Who needs to hear of your love for them?  Who needs the lesson you recently learned?  Who is waiting for your WORDS?

I wonder........


Thanks for being excited with me that the blog is working again.  And brace yourself, all these words have been bottled up for a long time.  I think I know exactly how Madi must feel.