I am 44 years old, and I am a talker. Lord knows, I am smart, funny, and articulate, and I have always had a lot to say. But I have been thinking lately, I wonder how many of the tens of millions of words I have spoen in my life have really made a difference - either in my life, or in someone else's.

Maybe I should switch my focus from being determined to be heard to be a passion to really listen and hear someone else.

Maybe I should confine myself to sentences that go straight from one heart to another, like...

I love you.

I'm listening.

I hear you.

You're important to me.

Maybe I'll stick to sharing my advice and my opinion only with those who ask for it.

I want to speak the truth, and I want to express my feelings honestly, but maybe doing so verbally isn't the most effective way to do so all the time.

Just a thought...

Doggone! I realize it has almost FOUR MONTHS since I last published a blog here. I started a new job - so now I have TWO jobs - I moved, and we had no TV service for 10 days, no phone service for 14 days, and no Internet connection for a month!

Perish the thought!

And truth be told, I wanted to hide out - from God, from myself, and even from friendly browsers who wouldn't know me if they fell over me on the street!

I get myself all tangled up - it's like a storm ranges around me and I ignore my own advice to sit still and wait for the storm to pass. What I do is to JUMP!!! And then I wonder how I got out of my cozy little frying pan into this nasty old fire.

Sheesh!

I wonder why I am so dang TIRED.

Yes, I work a lot, but I am pretty careful to get enough sleep too. I think I just let myself get overwhelmed.

Instead of trusting God - and talking to Him (especially FIRST), I quit talking to Him. I hang on for dear life to "control" of the details of my life, and I wear myself out between cutting myself off from my oxygen supply, and the sheer effort of hanging on by one's fingernails.

I am not so fun to be around lately...

I prayed about how much I hate change - what else can I do?