And He shut my mouth up, TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT!!

"He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity." -Proverbs 21:23

No, I have not given up on my walk with the Lord, or on blogging. I have been pretty sick since the end of October (more about that later), and it seems I have slept my life away for the past several weeks. God has been so faithful though, in using this time, (which I consider to be a great interruption and inconvenience) to teach me some things.

I had a minor surgery a week and a half ago, and something very funny happened. It may not seem funny to you unless I tell you a little bit about myself. For those of you who know me well, you will recall a time when I was very hurt by gossip. Thankfully, my Heavenly Father was gracious in using my pain as a reminder to me not to participate in any form of slander. Not that I am perfect. Far from it! In fact, I have found that there are countless opportunities each day, to either please or displease God with words. I know that I can sin in a heartbeat no matter my resolve, or past hurt. So, I have begun to pray that God would "shut my mouth up, TIGHT, TIGHT, TIGHT!" I got the idea from a song that I sang as a child about God shutting the mouths of the lions in the den with Daniel. I figure, He can do the same to me. And oh, how often it is necessary!

Gossiping is not the only calamity that pushes its' way through my lips though. Again, those of you who know me, know that I have the most frustrating ability to say the most stupid things in my attempt to bring someone a measure of comfort. For example; funerals. I have finally decided to just walk in, hug the grieving family member, and walk out. I dare not say a word!

So that brings me to my funny surgery. As I said, it was minor. It was supposed to be outpatient, and since I have had this type of surgery before, I really didn't anticipate any problems. So when I woke up speechless (literally), you can imagine that I was a bit confused, and scared. For several hours, my mouth did not work. My doctor believed that I may have suffered form a stroke, but after several tests and a night in the ICU, the neurologist determined that I had toxic encephalia caused by a reaction to either the anesthesia and/or pain medicine. From now on, my chart will be highlighted to indicate that medicine caused me to loose my speech, though I can't help but wonder...

I wonder, what the mess I was going to say in my groggy state that God refused to let me say. I wonder what calamity He kept me from. And whether or not He closed my mouth for that reason, I may never know. One thing I do know is that I will always remember His ability to do so. And I will forever be grateful for His sense of humor.