This past Sunday was Homecoming at my grandparents' church, of which they are charter members [they've been there since the founding]. So mom & I & Desiree [she's living w/ us for a while, until the camp she is working at begins in June] went for the service after going to Sunday School at Mulberry. They have an interim preacher at my grandparents' church. He is pretty old, and he's originally from New Zealand. He has the coolest accent, and he seemed kindof grandfatherly, although I didn't actually meet him. Since it was Homecoming, they honored the charter members and the those that teach in the church, and his sermon was on teachers, the influence they have, and how they are supposed to be above reproach. The main scripture he used was James 3:3-12, and he used "The Message" version. I don't have a copy of the Bible in the Message version, but I know that it's in really descriptive and easy-to-grasp terms. These particular verses talk about the tongue and are pretty descriptive and understandable no matter what version you read, but I thought it was quite interesting in The Message. And he read it out loud, in his New Zealand accent, so that made it more interesting. Anyway, I've posted the verses in The Message below, so you can read them.
3-5A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
5-6It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
7-10This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
10-12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Isn't it really descriptive? As I read back over it I can just hear it in his accent. Also, I thought it was very fitting, when considering what's going on at my church....

Also, my great uncle passed away Saturday. His funeral is today at 2pm. I didn't really know the man...last night was visitation, and the casket was open. He didn't look a whole lot different from how he looked in there...I mean pale, almost no hair, etc. However, he was my mom's uncle, so she has a good amount of memories involving him, I'm sure. My great aunt, his wife, Frances has asked that we sit with the family and eat with them afterwards. Last night as we went through the line at the visitation, I was meeting some of my cousins for the first time that I could remember! And I can see their house from where I live! It's ridiculous. Anyway. I do feel for them; my Papaw has 1 brother & 2 sisters, 1 sister-in-law & 1 brother-in-law, and this is the first of them to pass away [the brother-in-law is the one that passed] [One of his sisters never married]. Well, I need to go get ready now.
Haha...I'm so bad at ending a piece of writing....especially papers that I have to turn in, the conclusion is always the hardest part for me to complete......so, later fellow bloggers..ha.