August Challenge! Hahaha!

In the midst of a delightful weekend in Alabama, I realized two things:

1. There is half of August left. Half the month is gone.

2. I have not held myself to particularly high standards of conduct or discipline lately. Honestly.

In regards to #2:  Choosing little sacrifices reminds me that this isn't heaven and that I'm far from perfect. Stretching myself to grow in discipline will only help to make "a heart as big as the universe."

I know that I need little sacrifices to prepare me for any bigger sacrifices that God asks of me. I know that I pad my little world, stuffing pillowy comforts all around me until my limbs are trapped in all of the cushy softness and I can hardly move freely.

I know these things, and I usually want to want them...but I need regular practice. So, the Monthly Challenge. Now that it's August 15th, do I pretend that I was planning ahead for September all along? It's tempting to stuff another pillow under my elbow, type out my noble goals, and put them off. But...I thiiink...it's still worth starting today. Chesterton did say that "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly," right? And belatedly?

For the rest of August, I will work to speak of what is good, and beautiful and true. No complaining. No swearing.

(For instance: even when I'm stuck in the middle of a lake with skis on, struggling to balance with two buoyant planks flopping me over like a turtle with a brick on his shell. I will refrain from using language any coarser than describing said turtle, to provide an appropriate analogy for a PG audience. Ok, maybe PG-13. So they can relate, of course.)

(I tried to embed the photo of me in the above situation. Try as I may, it wouldn't load! God is merciful. You can use your imagination. No, don't.)

Communication is important to me, and the words I use show who I am, and shape how I think. I will work to speak well.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love it, shall eat the fruits thereof." -Proverbs 18:21