Saturday, July 12, 2008

Kind Words

Andrea of Flourishing Mother had such an excellent post about speaking kindly to one another, especially our husbands and children. It really is worth reading: Speaking Kindly.

I am surprised at myself that this is something I struggle with. I compare myself to the teenager who LOVED to babysit, who soaked up any opportunity to be with children, and who never, ever felt tired, exhausted, irritable, impatient, etc. at the sweet little ones that I watched over. What in the world happened?!?!?!?!

Some days it is a constant battle to reign in my tongue. Sometimes I win the battle, by the grace of God, and sometimes I lose and must come to my children and apologize for speaking to them with the same attitude that I often chastise them for!

I am considering purchasing the book, "Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit" by Teri Maxwell. Have any of you read it? I was blessed to hear her speak on this topic at a homeschool conference and found her to be humble and honest about her struggle with this very issue. I think her book would be pretty appropriate!

I want to tackle this weakness in my life! I want the stranger dropping by at any given moment in my night or day to see through my behavior that I recognize that my husband and children are treasured gifts from the Lord. I want my husband and children to know my love and respect for them simply by the way I speak to them. But most of all, I want to honor the Lord with 'the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart' at ALL times, even in moments of exhaustion, irritability, frustration, etc. Jesus absolutely faced times of exhaustion, irritability, frustration and host of others much worse than I will ever experience in my life and yet an unkind word never escaped His mouth! I must not be happy with anything less in my own life.

3 comments:

Leanne said...

Are we on the same wavelength or what!!!???

Just yesterday we began a campaign here on pleasant words! In fact, our copy verse for the week is "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones" (Proverbs 16:24).......

I have been convicted by my tongue for so long, and chagrined and seeing that how can I chastise and discipline my children for their rudeness, when they learn it from me??!! Am I exempt?? NO WAY!!!

It starts with me!

And yesterday was a good, good day! Honey flowed abundantly in our home! All I had to say was "pleasant words" and it worked....but I think me striving to be an example was the defining thing.

So, one day's battle won, on to today!

You can count on me praying for you, dearest friend.

Leanne

Michelle said...

I've been really praying about blessing my family with my words, building them up, not tearing them down. Letting God's love flow through me right smack dab onto my 6 littles and husband! Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit is a MUST read! I have it on my "read again" list right now! Hopefully by the end of the summer....

Sarah Joy said...

WOW! Your posts always hit home. My pastor just finished a series called The Substance of Words and it hit me hard. even your tone of voice can count as unpleasant. I have not read Teri's book, but I the title did intrigue me. Maybe I should check it out too.