Gentle Mother

This post is coming from my heart. It is a hard post to write and an even harder one to live out. Being a gentle mother is something I desire almost more than almost anything else. I long to answer with a gentle tone and a soft hand.

I find that to be such a hard thing to do in that split moment of reacting to my children. My human nature wants to answer harshly or pull that child toward me a little more rough than necessary. I am offended. It is their fault after all. They chose not to listen and now they will deal with the consequences. But a harsh response is not right on my part either. As the old saying says, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Proverbs 15:1  A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

I know that sometimes when I react harshly it makes the whole situation blow up in my face. Words are said that I don’t mean, but that I can’t take back either. I often find myself threatening things that I don’t mean or wouldn’t even think about following through with. And that is just as wrong as the child who disobeyed. But how can we ever get to the point of being a gentle mother?

Clean off your plate. It is way easier to speak calmly and gently when you are not overwhelmed. If you are running at breakneck speed all week and stressing about how the house is falling apart, even the least little interruption of disobedience can send us flying off the handle. But when we are careful with our time and don’t cram more into our lives than we can handle, we can slow down and deal with the hearts of our children and see that they do strive to please most of the time. But they are human and they fail us just as we fail our Heavenly Father. And many times a gentle reprimand is all that is needed.

Pray. We are weak, frail and hopeless humans apart from our walk with Christ. He gives peace and strength throughout our day. Without Him we don’t know love. Empty yourself each morning and ask Him to fill you with His love so that we can show our children the love of Christ through our gentle spirit, voice, and touch. We can be His hands as we care for our children.

And practice. Just as someone who wanted to run wouldn’t start with a marathon, we can’t expect ourselves to be gentle mothers overnight. We have to make a conscious effort to stop. breathe. then respond. It is a learning process and one that takes time. We can’t get down on ourselves. If we fail we must not give up. Just learn from it and move on.

I leave you with this word picture –

This life is like a train ride. We are traveling quickly through this world with our friends and family onboard. Each time we fail is a break in the tracks and it effects everyone in our lives. Sometimes they feel it a lot and other times just a little. But we can’t allow our failures to derail our train. We need to keep moving one day at time. So, dear sister, weather the bumps in the track in His strength and strive for gentleness each day. But show yourself grace just as Christ has done. It is a long journey but He blesses our meager efforts.