Day 1: Love is Patient

While patience may be a virtue, it is one that I am hard-pressed to grasp. You would think that after 4 kids I would have patience out the wazoo. Um, no. The truth is that love can inspire us to be patient. Reading today's lesson I have discovered that I don't have to like the way my husband does things. I simply need to take a step back and look at his intentions. A great example is him offering to repair my brakes for me instead of me taking them to a mechanic. He isn't doing it when I want it done but it IS getting done.

The next time we get angry with our spouse we need to stop and look at why. Do we snap back at some smart or mean comment that our spouse made? Is your house an angry one? I know that quite often there is yelling and screaming in our house between either my husband and me or my kids. The screaming and anger only escalates as time goes on. What would happen if us women, as teachers to our children and partners to our husbands, decided that we weren't going to snap at anyone. What if we decided that the words coming out of our mouth were used to lift up instead of tear down?

I grew up in what I consider a toxic environment and unfortunately have carried some of that over. I confess that I am frustrated that my life is not what I envisioned. But I have also realized that my current situation is something that is a result of my past decisions. I am not a victim. The life I have today is a result of the decisions I made or the ones I simply left to chance.

Today's challenge: Say nothing negative to your spouse (or your kids if you wish). If you cannot say anything nice then simply stay quiet.