Calm down. Because, anger and shouting aren’t tools of good parents; they tell the world you’re a lunatic. Out of control and rage-y aren’t a good look, Mom. Dad.

We have self-control. God is a restraint. Also, Do as I say, not as I do is NOT actual, working wisdom. Mom, Dad, Guardian: Categorize that as Nonsense under Delusion or, Dangerous Fantasy. We are what we eat, and we learn what we hear and see 👈🏾 That is truth.

Impatience leads us to give in to the temptation to snap – to let loose our temper and give way to anger, instead of holding it back (Proverbs 29:11; Ephesians 4:26-27.) The wisdom of this fallen world encourages impatience, even in parenting. But being a mom is a long-term role that cannot be “hacked.” It’s a long walk, and day to day status updates are misleading. All we can do as parents is 1) Try not to see our partners as opponents (very difficult ) and, 2) Continue to try to guide our children’s thinking. But we won’t see the harvest of our planting for years – the true harvest. That’s why true wisdom, which comes from God, exalts patience.

He that is patient is very wise and he that is impatient, very foolish.

Proverbs 14:29 (Aramaic Bible in Plain English). Bad habits can become as routine as keeping a grocery list and taking things out of the pantry. But our kids’ love is more than we deserve, and their hearts absorb all the light we choose to shine…as well as all the darkness we recklessly spew. We owe it to those eyes that are watching us and those minds that are learning from us not to take out our stress from the pantries of our souls. We shouldn’t keep a short temper like we keep a running grocery list.

I said a prayer of forgiveness the other day – forgiving my family for every thing I may feel like I’m owed, for every way I may have been disrespected… Because bitterness, even when it is valid or understandable, stands in the way of love.

Especially as a child of God, What am I teaching my kids, if they don’t know the truth? That, God is near to every single person, wanting each one to come home. And He loves us right now – before we want Him in our lives and, certainly, before we start to feel like we’re lovable. God doesn’t love us because we’re lovable and well-behaved; He loves us, because He is love (I John 4:8, 16.) Love is who God is 💜

As a parent, my role is to honor who God is, so my children can look at me (who they can see) and believe that God (Who is spirit and invisible) is Who I say He is. His love in me creates the love they experience through me – the same way what is seen in the universe was created by God, who is unseen. My prayer is that that experience is more and more accurate over time.

Friend, our love is the substance of God in our children’s lives.

So, if (like me☝🏾) you’re learning to calm down,  remind yourself of your very good reason: Jesus, whom you want to reflect as one of the mirrors your kids will use to see themselves and to see God all of their lives.