Timing, Tone and Temperature.

I am a part of our churches Upward Basketball leadership team. It has been such a blessing to be a part of this group. The Lord had me step completely out of my comfort zone and in doing so has blessed me for it. Anyway, we are half way through the season and yesterday we had a meeting to prepare for the rest of the season and to plan the awards ceremony. One of the leaders prepared a devotional and it really got me thinking. He was sharing that when our kids "act out" it usually isn't the best time and we need to stop and take just a few seconds to think about what is going on and maybe even why it is going on. To try not to make a mountain out of a mole hill. I thought this was funny at first, but this happens to me all the time, especially with my oldest son. It may be something little, but because of where I am at, I tend to over react and probably make something bigger than what it needs to be. Next is tone, how am I coming across to my kids in my tone? Most of the time in these situations my tone is anger, and that isn't good. Our tone creates the temperature of the situation and if my tone is anger, then I increase the temperature just by reacting to what ever the situation is. So, all of this got me thinking yesterday about how I want to handle situations with my children. I want to take a minute to listen to what is really going with my kids so my tone is under control, even if I am upset, so I do not increase the temperature of the situation. If I control my timing and tone, the kids behaviors won't be worse because of my reactions to their situation and hopefully the mole hill will remain a mole hill or even better disappear all together instead of me creating a mountain.