Guarding My Heart and Mind

Guest post by Author Linda Lowe Apple

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NLT

Years ago, I visited a friend in Honduras for a couple of weeks. Their Internet service was sparse at best, so I could only contact my husband, Neal, every other day or so, via email. The night before I was to fly home I received a message from him that said something like, I’ve looked over our budget. We need to make some changes. Vaccuumed the entire house. Changes need
to be made there too. See you soon.
Well, I don’t mind telling you I was pretty miffed. All night, I fumed. So, he thinks I spend too much money, does he? Well, one look in my closet, where only six dresses hang, and three pairs of shoes sit on the floor, will prove I don’t. So, I don’t clean the house good enough for him? Well, if he wants to take over the cleaning, more power to him.
I had plenty of time to marinate my anger at the airport in Tulsa. I could have frozen him with my stare when I finally saw him. Clearly, he was confused. He followed me as I sped to the luggage pick-up, all the while asking me what was wrong. Believe me, I let him have it. Neal was so shocked by my inference of his email, he had to sit down. “Linda, I meant that our budget had to be changed to provide you with more money. I saw your closet when I vacuumed it and realized you needed more clothes. And after using that vacuum, I realized we
needed a new one. I would have bought one already, but I wanted you to get what you wanted.
By the time he finished, I was looking for something to crawl under. My meditations were not pleasing to God, and I did not think the best about Neal. The words that followed were not pleasing either. Personally, I believe the Psalmist got it backward. I must make sure my meditations are pleasing to God, and the pleasing words will follow.

Linda Lowe Apple is an award-winning author. She has authored five children’s books. She is currently working on a ‘how-to’ book on inspirational/memoir pieces. You can find her books on Amazon. For more information, check out her author website at linda@lindaapple.com.