My Unexpected Day at The Hospital

"X" marks the spot from which I'm blogging right now! I'm in the "Observation Stay" unit of the University Hospital (Augusta, GA) in room 13 rejoicing that my mother had two gall stones removed today! She has been uncomfortable from time to time over the past several months, and finally the mystery has been solved. This was the BEST possible outcome; to have found nothing would have continued the uncertainty that has plagued her for several months.

The stones were measured in milimeters and very tiny, but because of their location, they became very painful, and very threatening to the liver itself. Her doctor was kind enough to show my brother and me x-rays and photos from the procedure. It was pretty amazing that he could go almost into the liver itself with a tube placed down my mom's esophogus and through her stomach. The lesson? Something doesn't have to be huge to disrupt our lives, it just has to be in the right (or wrong) location.

It reminds me of how powerful words are in bringing good or bad. James knew this as he wrote, "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body." (James 3:5,6)

We underestimate the power of words. I was reminded several weeks ago during a Sunday night discussion at church by a church member about how just a few words given by an influential person in our lives can destroy us. How many kids have been damaged by words like, "you'll never amount to anything," or "I wish you had never been born," or...you fill in the blank.

My church member's point was that if negative words can have such a powerful impact, so can they have a positive one. I wonder how the thief on the cross felt when he heard the words, "Today you shall be with me in Paradise?" (Luke 23) or the woman caught in adultery when she heard the words, "neither do I condemn you...go now and sin no more." (John 8)

The remarkable thing is that words, even a few words, can also have the power to encourage, to teach, to correct, and they can even be used by God to draw people to Him! So I thank God today that my mom's gallstones are history and her health is going to return, but also that my words can, if I choose, bring health to others! Go and help someone with the right words today...you might be surprised at what a few words can do!