Slow to Anger

I was reading today in James. Chapter 1 verses 19 and 20 hit me straight between the eyes.

¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak,slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Let me give you some background on this story.

This is our fourth week of school. And the last two weeks have been a struggle. Jordyn has not wanted to do anything speedily.  We did school yesterday from 9 AM to 5 PM. I was fit to be tied. I was angry and she knew it. I tried taking everything I knew away. I threatened to send her back to school. There were tears (hers) and gnashing of teeth (mine). 

I am not proud of the way I acted.

Add to that, Jana Claire spent most of the day crying and throwing a fit about something.

Let's just say I was the exact opposite of what these verses say.

Today I woke up to whining and crying again (Jana Claire) and lots of fighting and unkind words between the two girls. I decided I would start my day in the Word.  I'm not proud of this either, but it has been a while since I started that way. I prayed and asked forgiveness for yesterday's actions and for wisdom on how to motivate and encourage and teach without harsh, angry words.

And HE lead me to James. These verses were exactly what I needed. I continued reading and became extremely convicted in verse 22.

 ²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 

I have tried to do the convicting of Jordyn on my own...you know throwing Jesus and what He wants from her in the middle of a long dissertation about her behavior.  What I have been needing to do is listen to my own words. 

So, this morning started off bad but has taken a turn for the better. After my time with my Lord, I shared what I learned with Jordyn. I asked for her forgiveness for how I acted yesterday and told her I was going to be slow to anger today with God's help. If she feels that I am getting angry, or visa versa, we have a cue word. Molasses. Yup, that sticky stuff that is good on biscuits. It's a funny word and instead of saying, "Hey, you are sounding angry", which most of the time makes me more angry, she says, "Molasses." We smile and move on.

Amazing what the Lord will teach you if you just ask and are willing to hear and learn. And in this case hear somethings that are hard to hear because I am not doing what I need to do.

I love those girls. The Lord has entrusted me with them. I fail a lot of the times in raising them and discipling them. But today, I hope that I have done something good, with Him as my guide. I pray that I was used by Him to show Jordyn that no one is perfect and I make mistakes all the time. 

By the way, it is 11:30 am and she is more than halfway finished with her work. Thank you Lord. Praise be to God!