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Developing Positive Traits

Yesterday we looked at the sins and negative traits that needed to be removed from our lives. But what about the positive traits and qualities that need to be incorporated into our daily lives? I remember years ago reading through the list of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 and thinking one I particularly wished I had and need to work on was gentleness. I’d never thought of myself as being a particularly gentle person so I targeted this area as one area for God to help me work on. If you read through the bible you will … Continue reading →

If We Want Our Children to Have Character Traits, We Need to Have Them First

I write often here about how important it is for us as parents to model behaviors for our kids—things like honesty and patience and empathy are all important personal traits that we can exhibit ourselves in order to help our children learn what is expected. But, I think there are all sorts of morals, ethics, and character strengths that we must first foster in ourselves if we have hopes that our children will grow up with these cherished traits. How can we teach something that we haven’t really learned ourselves? If children can learn negative and abusive behaviors in the … Continue reading →

Nurturing Temperamental Traits – Mood

Everyone has a bad day sometimes, but how does your child generally look at the world? Does your child always have a smile on her face? Is he usually serious? Is he usually happy? Is she always complaining about something? Positive Every parent wants a positive child, the child that looks for the best in others, themselves, and the world and then finds it. The positive child will make the best of any situation. They will be slower to anger and get over hurt feelings easier. They will look for the good in people. The positive child is not one … Continue reading →

Gentleness can be a Great Parenting Tool

Perhaps you do not think of yourself as a gentle person by nature; I know that I don’t. If I were asked to describe myself in a dozen words–or even fifty words, I would probably not choose the word “gentle” as one of my personal adjectives. Even if you are more rambunctious, jovial, and outgoing as a person, you can still tap into gentleness in your parenting… Think of it this way, what happens when you reach down to pick up a tiny kitten, or a brand new baby for that matter? Chances are you become a very gentle person. … Continue reading →

Are You a Jekyll and Hyde?

When I told someone about the musical version of Jekyll and Hyde they scathingly said ‘like you would. How could you make a musical of that!’ They continued to look skeptical, when I assured them it was great and contains some lovely songs. The musical is based on the book ‘TheStrange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson. The other night I listened to the CD cast recording of Jekyll and Hyde with Anthony Warlow. (One of my favorite singers) We saw a production of this musical last year by the Orange Theatre Company and I was … Continue reading →

Careless Words

Our words and our actions reveal who we are. No where is this more true than with family. With family we tend to let our guard down. With family we often behave in a way we would not with other people. This is often because we know family will love us no matter what we say or do. And so it is easy to slip into an attitude of spilling out exactly how we feel when we are angry or hurt or upset. Yes, I’m talking from experience here. God showed me only this week that I still have to … Continue reading →

Taking God For Granted

A common problem in many relationships at time is that of taking the other person for granted. You can even carry this into your relationship with the Lord. Are You taking God for granted? Being thankful is a solution to this. In 2 Kings 5 we read that Naaman heard about the prophet in Israel. According to the slave girl, who was maid to Naaman’s wife, this prophet could heal even leprosy. Naaman thought he could purchase healing and so sent gifts to the king of Israel who decided he was trying to pick a quarrel with him. Elisha heard … Continue reading →

In Step or Tangled in the Dance of Life?

Are you becoming tangled in the dance of life? Or are you following the instructor? Recently my husband and I went for the first of a series of dancing lessons. We found, in what the instructor called the Tracey Lee waltz, it was not a case of two left feet but four, as we bumbled around tying to follow the moves the instructor and his partner made look effortless. For us, it became a tangle of legs as one of us always seemed to manage to go the wrong way. It can be like that in life. We can think … Continue reading →

What Can You Do If You’re a Worry Wart?

What can you do if you tend to be a worry wart? Some of us tend to be worriers by nature. Our instinctive reaction is to worry. You or I might say we don’t have a choice – that’s the way we were made. Wrong! God made us to live in relationship with Him and to trust Him. We can choose to worry. Or choose to trust God. A bible study leader told me years ago that the antidote to worry is prayer. So we do have a choice. We can choose to worry. Or we can pray. Another friend … Continue reading →

The Gift Or Blessing In Each Day – Part 2

I promised to share with you some of the gifts or blessings from each day. Since we’ve moved house that special gift is often an aspect of creation. Recently as we went for a walk near our home we saw a rainbow, that unique symbol of hope and promise God gave to Noah back in Genesis 9:8-17. No, it wasn’t that I had never seen a rainbow before but usually it’s only one end of a rainbow, or part of a rainbow, that is visible, not the complete arch with both ends clearly visible. On this day we saw the … Continue reading →