Blessing 120 (and its story)

Another Saturday, another spree of blessings!
But today I'm just going to focus on one blessing-and the story that makes it special. So settle down and enjoy yourselves!

Blessing 120-James 3. I love the book of James. It is so full of wonderful truths from God. James 3 is especially great. It is on the power of the tongue. If you are anything like me, controlling that useful organ can sometimes be difficult! :) But there is a bit more about James 3 than that. I can remember when that chapter first became important to me. You see, it was my first time at my favourite camp (I've been to another one, but it closed). Yes, the camp that I'm always gabbing about! ;) Anyways, I was there for a family camp. For the sessions there, they break the kids up into various age groups. At the time I was probably ten or eleven. Probably eleven. I think that I was by myself in that class (no siblings; there were lots of other kids!). I can still remember our favourite game to play after our own mini session (it was "Thumbs Up, Seven Up"). But what I remember with the most happiness is the sessions. My teacher was named Judd (I think it was two t's; I could be wrong). And he was a guy blest with the gift of being able to preach to kids. Not teach a Bible story or share a missionary story with pre-teen kids from the ages of (I think) nine to twelve. I found it to be wonderful. It was the first time that I had really heard someone like that. I had been in kids programs and classes, but not so much where people preached to young people. It was great! (I regret that I never attended a youth camp until I was thirteen. I think that attending a jr. camp, as scared and shy as I would have been, would have been very beneficial to my life as a young Christian struggling with assurance of salvation and other facts. That's why I'm so glad that my youngest sibling got to do that! And it even led her to a decision for Christ! Awesome!) Back to Judd's messages-one of his messages was on James 3. I can still remember some of his illustrations. Plus, I was horse crazy. And probably most horse crazy girls who hear James 3:3 are instantly enamored with it. It immediately became my favourite Bible verse! But since then, after many times of reading through both James 3 and the entire book of James, it has come to mean more to me. It is not just about how a tongue is like a bit/rudder/fire, but actually how to regard my tongue. There are so many verses. It is like walking into a mine where gems are covering the sides and floor and one need only pick them up.  (My pastor is actually preaching through it right now; when he began the series, I read ahead and read the book of James myself in my devotions; also, my family just started it in our evening family devotions! Yes, lots of James!) I'll never understand all of the book of James, but it will likely remain one of my favourite books of the Bible! If you haven't read James recently, I suggest that you read it again (or read it, if you can't do it again because you never have in the first place). You might find more in those five chapters that you'd remembered or expected!

God bless, folks!
Indi