I think since forever I have struggled with my tone of voice. I can still hear my mom saying to me, "It's not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it." Ugggh I feel like I am battling this as of late. I am thankful that the Lord doesn't seem to have us work on everything we need to work on all at once.
Sigh.
I have been saying over and over to my kids "Big girl voice please." or "Big boy voice please." As most drama and he said/she said, he did this/she did this begins with the most horrible whine. Or, the firmness in their voices to one another. I think its the tone that gets me more that what they are actually saying. So it is like my mom said...it's not what they are saying but how they are saying it to one another and to me. I feel lately like I have been asking them to slow down and try their words again. Getting them to realize that they have a "voice" they can have opinions it is how they expressed that will determine how they are received by the other person.
Oh if I could just remember this myself. The tone they use must have been learned somewhere.
Sigh.
So my prayer this morning was please Lord silent my tongue before I say something in a manner that will affect them. Silent my tongue before I hurt them, or make them feel they must always hurry, or get with it.
I find that my tone struggles the most at the end of the day. Bath, books, and bed time are just flat out tiring even with a good system. I want to love that time of day. I often don't. So, Lord again I ask will you please give me an extra dose of patience, seeing the moment for what it is kind of perspective. There will come a time when they don't need me to bathe them, or even want me to necessarily tuck them in anymore.
Sigh.
Today...as Jason might say (as all things now days have these silly little hash tags...no I have not gone over to the twit side of life. I did type that as I meant it...twit) #fail.
Yet...I will sigh again...pray as I head up at the end of naps at 4pm, ready to read stories, change yet another diaper, fix dinner and not just survive but thrive as Karen Stubbs would say. Help me thrive Lord!
*the pic is moments after Wyatt's birth. Kind of how I feel! :)
Hey Allison,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog, but just rarely comment (I'm a stalker like that). However, I loved this post and feel like this is something that I (and my kiddos) are constantly dealing with too! A good friend of mine sent me a link to a blog post about a similar topic that I thought was really good. Here it is if you have a few minutes of reading time: http://jenwilkin.blogspot.com/2011/09/civility-in-christian-home.html
Natalie