Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. (Prov. 16:24)

Last week, I wrote about heeding warning signs, especially those given to us by God dealing with choosing the right mate. It took no time at all for Dave to make me crazy. All I asked was for him to look up the definition of a clove of garlic—and yes, I should have known the answer. Bulb or clove, which is which? My brain simply refused to go there. (Sometimes it does that. But that’s a story for another time…provided I can remember it.)

Anyway, I was chopping garlic; Dave was sitting at the kitchen table, playing a word game on his phone. My recipe called for two cloves, but the “bulb-clove” thing confused me, so I asked for help. My sweet hubby needed to finish his game because he was being timed, and I guess he was going to win a kajillion dollars if he won, so I waited patiently. Then he started.

“Patty, did you know that garlic is related to the onion?”

“Lovely. What is a clove?”

“Did you know it comes from the genus Allium?”

“I don’t care where it comes from, Dave. What is a clove?”

“Here’s something interesting. It helps medically. Did you know that?”

“Did you know that I’m about to bang my head on the cutting board?”

“Patty, you’re really cranky, but I’m serious. It’s recommended for gout, snakebites, scalp ringworm, earaches, stomach aches, hemorrhoids…”

“That’s terrific, but unless you are getting a PhD in garlic, all I need to know is the definition of a clove.”

“Wow! It helps treat heart disease, enlarged prostate, chronic fatigue, stress, and…”
“Dave, if it’s recommended for stress, I’m going to suck down this whole thing just to get me through this conversation.”

It was then I left Dave, excitedly rattling off all kinds of garlic gobbledegook, and walked into the living room where my computer is located, googled “clove of garlic” and found my answer. As I stopped chopping and tossed my two cloves in with the other ingredients, sweet hubby was still sharing his research.

“Do you want to know how to get rid of garlic breath?”

“Do you want to know how to get rid of a wife, because you’re getting close.”

“Gosh, Patty, I thought you’d find this interesting.”

“About as interesting as swallowing a bowling ball.”

“Cranky, cranky, cranky.”

As I write this, I think of wonderful Christian couples who never would have a conversation like this. Their words are bathed in prayer, and they purpose to edify each other. From the minute sweet hubby said, “Did you know that garlic is related to the onion?” they would have stopped chopping and shown interest. They would have asked for a handout and memorized the spreadsheet. They would have put the other person’s feelings first. I know that’s what God wants me to do. I know that time is short and I won’t have Dave forever (unless, I guess, we eat a whole lot of garlic).

Proverbs 16:24 gives us advice to guide our talk: Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. I need to memorize that scripture. Kind words benefit soul and body.

Then again, I could just chomp on a clove of garlic. If Dave’s lucky, maybe it remedies crankiness.