Welcome to my weekly post where we take a break from money-related posts and I share about what I'm loving right now and give you a little peek into our life from the past week.
What I’m Learning Right Now
I had to ask forgiveness of one of my kids yet again this past week.
I had told one of them — who is currently struggling with some relationships — that they could come and tell me anything. And I emphasized the word anything.
I had told them how I didn’t want them talking to others about this situation and their frustration, but that they could come to me and air everything they were feeling — no matter how ugly.
So they did yesterday. They were frustrated and upset and, instead of just patiently listening, I sort of flipped out inside… and that came out in my responses.
“What’s changed with you? Why are you all of sudden having such an unkind attitude toward this person? This is not the child I’ve always known you to be.” I asked, genuinely concerned.
And then this child looked at me and said, “I thought you said I could tell you everything. I thought you said it was okay to air my frustrations to you. I’ve felt like this all year, I just was scared to tell you because I was afraid you’d be upset.”
Big OUCH!
I sat there stunned. I had blown it as a mom. Instead of being a safe place, I’d been a judgmental space. Instead of fully listening, I quickly jumped to conclusions.
Instead of processing with them and praying with them, I’d shut them down.
What was the root of all this? It was about ME. It was me worrying about what other people would think. It was about me parenting for others’ approval.
And so, I went back to my child and asked forgiveness and acknowledged why I was reacting like I did and that it was wrong.
What followed was a beautiful conversation about grace, about responding like Jesus, and about how it’s just plain hard to love people sometimes.
My prayer: Lord, help me to parent from a space of knowing that I’m pre-approved by You and it doesn’t matter what other people think. Let me love my kids with Your love, remembering how much I am loved by You.
What I’ve Been Pondering
On Thursday, I got two really discouraging emails. And it got under my skin big time.
I was at the very end of a LONG and full week of launching a brand-new course and hosting three webinars as part of the launch.
We had bumped the launch date up by a week at the last minute because of some unexpected scheduling conflicts. So it meant I had worked a lot of extra hours to pull it off.
I get unkind, rude, discouraging, critical comments and emails pretty much every single day. And usually I’m pretty good at letting it just all roll off my back.
So I knew that when these emails really bothered me, it was a sign that something was out of sorts in my heart and that the cure for that was time offline.
I declared Saturday as a SLOW (mostly) offline day. A day to step away from the noise online. A day to refresh and refuel my weary soul and body.
I slept in, I stayed home all day, I wore comfy clothes, I drank tea, I read my Bible, I exercised, I played fooseball with Silas, I hung out with the girls and watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls (I’m watching it for the very first time!), I took time to pray and plan and think, I cleaned, I spent time with Jesse, and we capped off the day with dinner around the fire pit and a hilarious rendition of family karaoke.
It was exactly what my soul needed.
If you’re struggling with stress, frustration, or irritation, try taking a slow day. A day where you step away from the busyness, to usual to do’s, the errands, the noise… and just take time to rest, refresh, and remember what matters.
It just might be the perfect balm to your stressed heart.
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