The other day childhood memories slapped me in the face! I was tired of Brandon’s and Gabriel’s attitudes, little fights, arguments, and putdowns. I was praying about how to handle this when it seems like wartime here at home. I remembered a torturous discipline my mom made us do…and yes…I applied it to our case!
At the dinner table, little words and hurtful phrases started being thrown back and forth. I was getting ready to “discipline”. After a few more…you’re this…you’re that…I said, “okay, Gaby, now you have to say THREE NICE THINGS ABOUT BRANDON! And Brandon, you have to think of THREE NICE THINGS to say about GABY when Gaby’s done!” All of a sudden there was complete silence…no one said a word. I asked Gaby to start and he said…Mom, I can’t. I asked Brandon to take over and he answered the same thing.
We decided to sit there till midnight or until each boy said three nice things about the other. It was torture! No one looked up. No one said a word. Oscar and I took advantage of the silence to lecture and teach about what was really going on. I giggled on the inside as I was remembering our own punishment as teens when I couldn’t find one nice thing in my sister. (Now, I could list a hundred.)
So, thanks to mom’s constant warnings…If you say one bad thing about a person, then you have to say three nice things about them...we eventually ended the evening on a happy note.
Sometimes it’s VERY hard. Think about it next time you say something bad about someone. Can YOU think of three nice things about them?
1 comment:
Hi Karen!
I'm from the Hamilton church in Ontario and I'm on here through the prayer request email sent out about the school.
I just thought I'd take the opportunity to say hi and that you guys are in my prayers and I'll be coming down there with the work team in August!
Take care and God bless :)
Elysha
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