He comes into the living room dressed for the day. The pants of choice are his older brother’s that fall as he walks. The shirt his little brother’s, showing his belly. I looked at him,then called him to come to me. His face hanging low, he obeys right away. As he approaches I feel a tugging at my heart. Questions come to my mind. Why are you going to yell at him, he did get dressed right away? What did he do wrong? Did he disobey?
When he reaches me, he looks up waiting for me to reprimanded. I look at him and say, “ What we have here is a little boy who has pants that are too big because they belong to his older brother. We have a shirt that is too little because it belongs to his little brother. Do you know what this tells me?
He shook his head no.
I continue, “ This tells me that if you didn’t have brothers we would have a naked little boy standing in the living room.”
A huge smile crossed his face, followed by a giggle.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1
Too many times I get upset with the kids because of my selfishness. I am not getting what I want. I raise my voice. This makes matters worse.
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
(James 1:19-20 ESV)
Yes, he was wearing his brother’s clothes. Was this really an issue? No.
Since this day, I have found myself being slow to speak about things. Making things light hearted. Since my speaking has been slow, so has my anger. I see a difference in the boys. They don’t seem so afraid when I call them over to talk to me. That in itself has been an eye opener. I do not want my kids to be afraid to come and talk to me.
The peacefulness that has come to our home has been great. Voices are not being raised.
I am not saying that I have it all together. There are days that I fail, but I see a difference.
Let’s be slow to anger. Slow to speak.
Thank you. This is exactly what I needed to hear.
I had my oldest boy writing James 1:19-20 last week because of some constant issues with outbursts of anger and frustration……talking with my husband afterwards I, embarrassingly, had to admit that the boy gets the seemingly irrational reactions from ME! Granted, I get pushed a little bit further and further and further as the day goes on and tend to allow my weariness to express itself in ways that my boys SEE as an overreaction….an outburst…..but my oldest has been around it long enough that he jumps straight to the anger.
Him and I have some work to do, and this was quite an encouragement to me today!
Danielle
organizationalhysteria.com
Danielle Z.´s last [type] ..Worldchange Wednesday 6*6*12
something I have been convicted of recently too… and I give myself a time out when I don’t seem to be getting through to my little man, instead of yelling at him.
Buffy´s last [type] ..IEP writing -or- finding the strength in the weakness
I could have written this post! SO me! Thank you…thank you so much! I needed this more than you know *tears*
Marybeth´s last [type] ..Treasure
i love it! we are there right now..kids want to get dressed themselves, (something i have prayed for) and now that they are doing it…we have a colorful bunch! In the end, it doesn’t really matter… it doesn’t. I now smile when i see kids walking around mixed match…the parents are allowing their children to grow. Love how you handled it.
Ginger´s last [type] ..Hope for the weary moms..
Thank you for this! I am right there as well! My 2 year old likes to wear everyone else’s clothes including shoes (on the wrong feet of course). I don’t mind that so much, it’s my selfishness as well that gets in the way. Unfortunately, I am a firecracker! I don’t want my boys to be like that. So I am really going to try hard to be slow to speak.
You are talking straight to my heart. This is me so many times and later I wonder, “Why was I angry over THAT?!?” Thank you for this. I loved your response to your precious son. I hope I can be more like that someday.
I really needed to hear this today. Thanks for sharing.
Loved it, nice way to turn it around.
This has been my favorite Bible verse for a while now because of the stage of life I am in. I have 3 children that are 7 and under and one more on the way. I need hourly reminders to be “Quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” When I slow down and think about what is going on or being said before I speak it helps tremendously to keep me from anger. Thanks for your post today. That’s right where I am at.
Something to strive for. Today I failed miserably.
I also needed to hear this today. Especially the Proverbs verse. How I need to remind myself of this on a daily basis! Thank you!
Brandie´s last [type] ..WAHM? (and a menu post snuck in)