Kind & Gentle

This sign was recently hung by our front door.

It was intentionally placed where we would see it before walking back out into the world. The words are not new, they were written in the 8th Century and more recently (in the 20th Century) they became my favorite scripture.

I am grateful to the artist who used just six of the words from Micah 6:8 to remind my family of three guiding principles to strive for each day.

Growing up there was a "Family Mission Statement" next to our front door. I can't tell you any of the words from it, but I distinctly remember it being hung. I remember the intentionality my parents brought to their parenting and how it deeply mattered to them that my brother and I treated others with love. They taught us that God loved us and everyone else without exception.

When our first child was born we only had two rules with a total of four words for the first couple of years. They were, "Kind words, Gentle hands". Now that we have two children our rules have expanded to five words. They are: "kindness", "gentleness", "generosity", "patience" and "gratitude".

3 1/2 year olds and 1 1/2 year olds don't have terrifically long attention spans, which seem to be even briefer when you are providing correction, so typically we just say the word that is relevant.

 If someone is having a hard time sharing we say "generosity"; if someone found a curl of hair too irresistible not to pull we say "gentleness"; and if someone is whining about only getting a piece of chocolate instead of getting to consume the whole bar we say "gratitude".

We try to tell them what we want them to do instead of what we don't, and we cheer like fools when they make a good choice.

Joshua and I are trying really hard to live up to our family rules as well, however hearing "generosity" hasn't been particularly welcomed when someone suggests that their spouse might choose to share the cookie they are eating.