He’s barking at me in the kitchen as he chops meat on the
cutting board. Heat rushes to my face. I feel like a cornered cat with my back
arched and fur sticking out.
Defensive thoughts race through my mind—running
into a traffic jam of angry words in the back of my throat. Just as I’m about
to “hiss” angry words—I hear a familiar whisper inside my head.
A gentle answer turns
away wrath…
In a flash an old video reel plays in my mind’s eye. We’re standing
in the kitchen—barking and hissing at each another. He leaves the house
frustrated, slamming the door behind him. I collapse on our bed in tears, our angry
miscommunication feeling like a bowl of tangled spaghetti.
“ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?”
His barking voice snaps me back to the present. I look at
his face—contorted in anger. I feel the urge to defend myself tug against the whisper. It’s my moment
of decision. How many times have I regretted
not listening to that little whisper? I take a breath and send up a quick
prayer for strength—to yield!
Immediately the traffic jam in my throat disperses. I feel “the
fur” on my back go down as my shoulders relax. Another whisper floats by my inner
ear. Love is patient, love is kind… I
give in to the words, and I feel them as I speak.
“Yes, I hear you.”
I see a flicker of surprise in his eyes as we lock gazes. His
inner battle plays out on his face as he weighs his decision. I hear the clock in the living room—the one we bought
for our first anniversary so many years ago. Tick—tick—tick.
His jaw relaxes. “Well, okay then,” he says.
A gentle answer turns
away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1, NASV
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1, NASV
Afterthought… This is one of the times I succeeded in heeding “the still
small voice” that some believe is God, me being one of them, but I did not
learn to heed without failing. As the saying goes, I am a work in progress—as we
all are. So, don’t go beating yourself up for failing to heed yesterday. (I’m
talking to myself as much as you.) Today is a new day. Pick yourself up and try
again!
“Supposing you have
tried and failed again and again. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose,
for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”
~Mary Pickford
~Mary Pickford
