Practice Peace

I am an imperfect mother at the least.  I fail daily…some days hourly.  I always begin with the best intentions; but some days those best intentions are never realized.

This morning I was praying and asking the Lord to help me be a good, kind; and loving mother.  This is something that unfortunately is not natural to me. 

I ran across an article about this mom who always seemed to find herself yelling at her kids.  As I was reading she was telling about an experience where she could feel herself getting frustrated at her child and before she confronted her child she took a minute to pray and ask God to help her.  Her prayer was really honest and so I included it in this link so you could read it.  http://www.thebettermom.com/2014/05/01/really-want-yell/   

I really enjoyed her honesty and after I read her article I thought of these two words.  PRACTICE PEACE.

I thought wow that’s strange.  My whole life I have heard the phrase “practice makes perfect”.  But that’s exactly what she was doing.  She was practicing what she already knew to do. 

Sometimes in order to become skilled in an area like music or sports we have to practice. 

If I want my home to naturally be peaceful then I must first practice being peaceful myself.  When I feel that frustration rising I must practice responding in peace if I want BE peaceful.  I just thought this was a really good way to look at it. 

Lord help me practice peace.  At the very moment I can feel myself getting frustrated let me stop for a second to ask for your help and then let me proceed with caution.