MAKE SOME SPACE, OR HAVE A LITTLE GRACE
We don’t always get it right. And others don’t either. We are #REALNOTPERFECT
With that being said, has anyone ever overstepped boundaries or said something indirectly insulting?
I remember feeling that way a lot when I was pregnant with MY SON. Random people would rub my belly & some of the comments- well, they were something else. Like, “They say girls steal your beauty. Let me look at you. (Pause) You’re having a girl.” 🤔
Or, “I can’t wait to see you fat!” (Little did they know that I had battled disordered eating for decades and still did have some lingering thoughts at that time. )
At the time, I remember running home to my hubby all fired up. (Don’t mess with the pregnancy hormones.) But I’m so grateful for a sense of humor that laughs at those moments now.
Still those moments happen. And like the Luke Bryan’s lyrics, “I believe most people are good.” I TRULY DO!
But the reality is these moments have the ability to DIVIDE US STEEPER or set the stage to UNITE US DEEPER…
🤍NO ONE IS PERFECT!
Therefore, we all fall short with our words and actions. And even if I’m SUPER empathetic and try watch what I say and do, I fall short too.
🤍NO ONE IS PERFECT!
Perfection is too high of a standard for me to be held to. Therefore, I need to check myself and make sure that I am not holding that standard up to anyone else, including my husband. Sorry hun!😉
🤍 So what can we do when those imperfectly infuriating moments happen? (Because we know they sure will.) Well I heard a link last week that, in my opinion, fits perfectly... (in an imperfectly perfect way)…
MAKE SOME SPACE OR GIVE A LITTLE GRACE.
And sometimes, we can best do that by hitting the PAUSE button first.
⏸ “Hitting pause” isn’t “giving in” to the words or act. Instead it is setting up the stage to truly talk about it. It isn’t ignoring the feelings; it is allowing for the emotions to not overshadow the point we want to make. It is fueling our faith instead that fiery cycle because TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT. And while it may sound like a paradox, I find that pausing can help us best speak up.
⏸ In school, I teach my students to take the six second pause. Two years ago I read some research around emotional responses and it stated that it takes 6 seconds to recognize compassion, JUST SIX SECONDS OF A PAUSE. But adults can learn so much from this too. So I started to try it in my own life by pausing.
⏸ I…
6-5-4-3-2-1…
I mean when I really think of it…
🤍WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? Would he snap at, yell and pull people away from God? Or would he answer in truth filled with grace? We are called to be Imitators of Christ.
I know I need to PAUSE.
I know sometimes it will require me to walk away or sometimes it will require me to show some grace. Self control is a fruit of the Spirit as is patience. So let’s step & PAUSE with the Spirit.
🤍 Because the truth is... our words hold power, but God’s words hold SO MUCH MORE!
🤍 So I pray to hit pause to make space for Him to speak. I pray to PAUSE AND PRAY - to PAUSE AND SEEK!
🤍 So much like Mr. Rogers once wrote, “What do you do with the mad that you feel”….
What will we do with our emotions?
What will we do in the heat of the moment?
What will we do with our mad?
🤍 So today if I’m a bit silent, I’m certainly thinking but chances are I’m probably praying too.
⏸What does your 6 second pause look like?
SCRIPTURES:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” ~ Romans 3:23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” ~ Galatians 5:22-23, 25
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” ~ Colossians 4:6
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” ~ Proverbs 18:21