It's Been 6 Months...How are YOU Doing?

Do you remember this post from way back in January? If you chose a word, how are you doing with it?

My word was

Gentleness


...and I have a long way to go. As it turns out, I get very easily stressed when I feel like I am out of control in a situation...like if my house is messier than I think it should be, or if all the girls are talking at once, or if doing errands in town isn't going well (usually due to my lack of planning!). In times like that, I feel a tension rising in my chest...do you know the one I'm talking about? The one where I feel likeI'm going to burst, but I'm not sure how it will come out...yelling? exasperated? crumbling in a pool of angry tears?
There are so many times when I succumb to the above emotions. I haven't done it in public yet, but last week I got close...and it involved a Walmart employee. 
However, there have been times when I have been victorious over the stress and have reacted with gentleness instead of anger. I have only done that by the grace of God! Seriously. It takes great power to calm the volcano of emotions that rise up in this lady!!


I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but when I look at things like Pinterest lately, I've noticed a pretty sharp trend in the opposite direction of gentleness. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a sarcastic joke as much as the next person, but there's just SO much! So much negativity...and so much "calling out" of people. "I know a few people who should take a look at this/try this" is repeated over and over and over again. Sometimes after looking at it for awhile, somewhere inside, my soul whispers "shhhh. Just love each other."


In January I mentioned Ephesians 4:2-3. It's not the only place in the Bible that God talk about gentleness. This verse has been on my heart for a long time now.




"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, 


such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry 


or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self,


 the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of 


worth in God’s sight." 1 Peter 3:3,4

A gentle and quiet spirit. If I sit quietly and really think about those words for a

minute, some things come to mind. Or rather, some people. Ladies that I know who 

possess these qualities. Maybe you know someone like this too; you can't always explain

it, but you just enjoy being around them. They might not be quiet as in "don't talk at all", but 

there is a quiet quality about them. I am blessed to have a few friends like this. They are the 

ladies who, when my day is spiralling out of control, I long to talk to or have coffee with. 

They are encouraging, joyful, and good for my soul :)

I want to be this type of person for others. I still have such a long way to go....so far to be as 

gentle of a person as I would like...to my children, to my husband, and to my friends. I know 

how to be, it's just a matter of doing it :) It's spending time every day with my heavenly 

Father...the one who created me, who created gentleness, and who Himself is the epitome 

of gentleness. Who better to learn it from than Him?

I would love to be reminded as to what your word was and how you have done with it for the 


first 6 months of 2012!