“Gentleness is part of being feminine - part of being a woman, and God made us distinctly different from men on purpose!”
~ Melanie Chitwood ~

Sometimes it takes something like a big old whack on the head with the truth to open my eyes, and sometimes I need just a gentle reminder. These words hit home for me in so many ways, they have been on my heart and in my mind for quite some time now, I guess I just needed to hear someone else say it to bring it to the forefront.

Once again, it would be way too easy to blame my circumstances for my attitude. Although it’s true that raising 6 children in such a small house is overwhelming, frustrating and . . . well . . . clausterphobic, that is no excuse to be as edgy as I always seem to find myself these days. There are many more excuses such as that one that I could list, but I won’t because it is pointless.

God gave me my wonderful husband and sons and he made me the only female in this house for a reason - whether I understand it or not. I cannot lose my femininity in the midst of it all and like the quote says gentleness is a huge part of being a woman. There are two sides to this quote for me.

Gentleness as a Mother: It has been dwelling somewhere in the back of my mind that I need to respond to my sons more gently instead of instantly getting “on their case” when problems arise. I desperately need to be an example to them. I am shaping their thoughts and feelings toward the feminine gender, a little bit of a scary thought to be honest, but true. I need to exhibit those qualities that I want my sons to find in their future brides! Wow!

I can’t say that I’m not a little overwhelmed by the idea, it means a complete deviation from my current path and I’m going to need a lot of help from God to make this happen! I have been very blessed and encouraged through praying for my children with more purpose, but I think it is time to add myself into the mix! Praying that the Lord with give me gentleness and peacefulness as I talk with, discipline and love on my sons each day.

Gentleness as a Wife: I am happy to say that this is far less overwhelming. It’s true that I’ve kind of gotten myself into a rut of a little bit of complaining and a “hissy” attitude. I can find ten million things to complain about each day, but I shouldn’t. Gentleness though has never been far away in my relationship with my hubby, I just needed this reminder. I love being able to sit and talk with him or to just hang out and watch a show. I wish we had more time alone together to just connect and relax! I daily need to let go of the day’s frustration and clausterphobia to ensure that my husband’s time at home is refreshing and happy. He works hard to provide for our family, the last thing he needs is me nagging him when he is home.

Thoughts for the journey:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 3:01 pm and is filed under In Other Words. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. If this post blessed, encouraged or inspired you, please feel free to "Stumble It" or submit it to kirtsy - Thank you! You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.