Day #1

Things That I Say To My Kids That I Should Be Listening To Myself #1: Be Kind
"Be kind and compassionate to one another..." Ephesians 4:32

Guess who stayed up way too late last night trying to be prepared for Day 1 of this blog challenge?

And guess who went to bed way too late without a finished product?

And guess who woke up grumpy that she was behind already and a little bit mad that she missed out on sleep for NOTHING? (This same girl doesn't mind staying up late if it means that she accomplished something)

And guess who was snappy and annoyed at her children who begged her to get up and come snuggle on the couch with them and then had the audacity to ask for breakfast!!? (I know, I am horrible...)

And guess what the topic for today is? Be Kind.

Great.  (I always love a strong start!)

Sometimes it can be easier to be kind to strangers than it is to be kind to those closest to me.  I can go all day smiling at people on the street, making happy conversation with the cashier, holding doors for the people behind me and even allowing someone with only a few items to go ahead of me in line at the grocery store, but I must confess that I don't always show my family the same kindness. (cringe!) It can be easy to be kind to strangers because the strangers that we are being kind to don't owe us anything to begin with.  They just pop into our lives for a moment, we do something that costs us very little (smile, hold the door, use kind words...) and then we walk away and hopefully they feel better and we leave feeling pretty good too. And this is good and wonderful and we should never stop looking for ways to show kindness to others...

But...in our homes, it is not always that simple and I am ashamed to say that I have days where I do not show my husband or my children the same level of kindness that a stranger on the street received moments before I walked in my front door and that is truly unacceptable.  I might feel tired or worn down from the billions of questions I have answered or tasks that I have completed or small people that I have entertained throughout the day, but there is no reason why I should not be extending kindness to my family.  I am not mean or malicious, but by not showing them kindness, then I am being unkind to the people that I love most of all.

Lord, help me to be kind in my words and in my actions.  

Give me grace, energy and multiple opportunities each day to show kindness to my family.