Is There Ever A Perfect Sunday Morning?
I got up early Sunday morning, put the roast in the oven, cleaned the kitchen, spent time in the Word, hummed quietly to myself as I applied mascara when I heard a knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in," I responded.
My daughter with bed hair and puffy eyes scowled, "Where is my anti-freeze?"
I gently replied, "I don't know sweetheart," recognizing that the wrong tone or choice of words could possibly send her into a teenage fit that I really did not want to endure while trying to prepare to go and "worship the Lord."
"Where did you put it?" I quietly asked.
"It was on my floor in my room and you put it somewhere when you vaccuumed," she grimaced as she glared at me with a look that could kill.
The conversation went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. After dad got involved and I resorted to getting within millimeters of her nose and angrily saying words that really didn't help the situation, a voice in my heart said, "Hello. This isn't right."
I walked away from the heated moment which had moved from my bathroom to hers and told her, "I'll be back in a minute."
That small voice whispered deep in my soul, "Peace MAKER. Is what you are doing making peace?"
At that moment I realized, when she asked about the anti-freeze I should have replied, "What is your anti-freeze?" I would have quickly learned that it was the bottle that I thought was empty and threw away on Friday. At that point I could have apologized for accidentally throwing away the anti-freeze and maybe the whole situation could have gone from bad to better.
I walked into my daughter's bathroom and explained how I could have made peace instead of creating a disaster. As I apologized for my behavior and told her how I didn't like it when people got within millimeters of my nose and that I should not have done that tears began to roll down her cheeks, she grabbed me and gave me a big hug.
WOW! What a big difference 2 words can make. "I'm sorry."
I learned a very valuable lesson Sunday morning. Apologizing breaks down barriers and opens doors to relationships. Those 2 words are powerful and mandatory tools in the art of Peace MAKING!
"Come in," I responded.
My daughter with bed hair and puffy eyes scowled, "Where is my anti-freeze?"
I gently replied, "I don't know sweetheart," recognizing that the wrong tone or choice of words could possibly send her into a teenage fit that I really did not want to endure while trying to prepare to go and "worship the Lord."
"Where did you put it?" I quietly asked.
"It was on my floor in my room and you put it somewhere when you vaccuumed," she grimaced as she glared at me with a look that could kill.
The conversation went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. After dad got involved and I resorted to getting within millimeters of her nose and angrily saying words that really didn't help the situation, a voice in my heart said, "Hello. This isn't right."
I walked away from the heated moment which had moved from my bathroom to hers and told her, "I'll be back in a minute."
That small voice whispered deep in my soul, "Peace MAKER. Is what you are doing making peace?"
At that moment I realized, when she asked about the anti-freeze I should have replied, "What is your anti-freeze?" I would have quickly learned that it was the bottle that I thought was empty and threw away on Friday. At that point I could have apologized for accidentally throwing away the anti-freeze and maybe the whole situation could have gone from bad to better.
I walked into my daughter's bathroom and explained how I could have made peace instead of creating a disaster. As I apologized for my behavior and told her how I didn't like it when people got within millimeters of my nose and that I should not have done that tears began to roll down her cheeks, she grabbed me and gave me a big hug.
WOW! What a big difference 2 words can make. "I'm sorry."
I learned a very valuable lesson Sunday morning. Apologizing breaks down barriers and opens doors to relationships. Those 2 words are powerful and mandatory tools in the art of Peace MAKING!
"Those who are peacemakers will plants seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness." James 3:18
posted by Stephanie Chase @ 9:02 AM
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