SALT Challenge - Speaking with Kindness

This week it was Julie's turn to set the challenge for SALT and I had to "scold" her about her chose of "Speaking with Kindness" because this topic hit too close to home! The Lord likes to work that way...Bringing up topics for study where you are lacking....even when you didn't really want to think too much about said topic. :-) Julie shared a wonderful paragraph from the book, The Virtuous Woman, Vicki Courtney on a chapter about speech. "A virtuous woman . . . speaks with wisdom because because she wisely considers her words before she opens her mouth. When in the presence of gossip or hearsay, the law of kindness remains on her tongue. With an awesome fear of the Lord, she is quick to remember ' that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken' (Matt. 12:36)." Wow...how convicting to consider that we'll have to give an account for even the words we've spoken. I'm not sure I noticed my words much before having children. After...sigh...it can be a challenge to speak with kindness and love when both of your children are pushing all of your buttons, at the same time while you're trying to cook dinner or do some other activity. It's also really hard if you're a person who struggles with being patient (humm...I don't know anyone like that...). I notice it even more when I hear the boys talking to each other in an unloving way. Not that they're not responsible for their own actions but certainly they copy what their parents do more than they do what they say. It makes me think of parents who tell their kids not to smoke while they're lighting up...The same holds true for when we tell our children to be kind of one another and yet as parents too easily lose our patience of fail to respond in a loving manner. Just last night, after having a difficult day with our oldest, I thought to myself...When he responds in anger, I must respond in love. When he responds with impatience, I must respond in love. When he doesn't obey, I must respond in love. For isn't this an example of what Christ has done for His people. When we were rebellious, loving ourselves more than anyone else, when we failed to obey God's commands and preferred to indulge our sins, when we ignored the One who gave us life and all that we have....He responded in love, humbling Himself and giving up His life, even though He had done nothing wrong; simply because He so loved His people. If Christ did all this for me then surely I can rise to the challenge of speaking with kindness to those around me. May God be pleased to empower us to do those things that He calls us to! As for my ATC...it was a quick creation, using a Tim Holtz script stamp and a flower stamp from Waltzingmouse Stamps, Big Blooms - Chrysanthemums. My Scripture verse was printed out on my printer. I went with a two-color combo this week and love the idea of keeping things simple and bold. The SALT team created some amazing projects this week so take a quick peek on the blog and if you're feeling inspired by this week's challenge, then please leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery. Enjoy!