Gracious Words

Years ago growing up on the farm, one of my fondest memories was the year we robbed the "honeycomb" out of the big tree down in the pasture!!  I will never forget that moment.  My Aunt Jinny and Uncle Howard were out visiting. They came out to the farm almost "weekly" and Aunt Jinny was "game" for almost anything.  She is the same aunt that we made divinity in every color of the rainbow - now just the traditional pink, white or green - every color . . . just to see if it tasted any different!!  LOL!

My brother came up to the house from checking on the cows in the pasture and said, "there's a big "honeycomb" in a tree down in the pasture"!  That is all it took for Aunt Jinny to perk up and say, "let's go rob it"!!!   And so we all - the whole family - tracked down the well-worn cow path up and down and around and over until we saw the bees swarming around the tree.  It brought back memories of Pooh Bear!!!  LOL!

We all kept our distance watching as Aunt Ginny and my brother, John, slowly approached the bee hive.  Moving slowly, so as to not upset the bees, they got the honeycomb down out of the tree, put it in a 5 gallon bucket, and managed to get only a sting or two. Leaving the confused, angry, buzzing bees behind, we trailed single file back up the old cow path to the barn and on to the house.

Aunt Jinny knew just what to do with the honey.  I remember it was the clearest, most tasty honey I had ever experienced. We decided that fresh, clear honey needed to top off some pancakes.  So mom was busy making hot pancakes and Aunt Jinny was taking care of getting the honey out of the comb and we kids anxiously awaited our feast of hot pancakes with fresh honey on them.  Mmmmmm . . . was that ever good!

I will NEVER forget that afternoon of robbing the honeycomb out of the tree in the pasture and pancakes dripping with the "best honey" I have ever eaten!!  

Just as that honey was the sweetest honey I have ever tasted - straight from the honeycomb - I realize how important our words are.  They too need to be pleasant, sweet, healing, uplifting, and encouraging.  Our words can have a positive influence on the world around us.  Let's strive to make our words . . . sweet to the soul and healing to the bones . . . just like that honey dripping from the honeycomb!

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."  Probverbs 16:24