Use your voice

One of these days I plan on writing a blog post about our family rules. With 6 kids we have several we have come up with over the years that have worked fairly well for us. One of them being, "if it's not yours, don't touch it". This works with sibling rivalry over toys and when we are visiting other people's homes or we are out in public. It is just a good, solid, kind of covers everything rule of life.

This weekend, my husband and I sat everyone down as we were inspired with a new general rule of conduct. We explained, "Use your voice, and respect other people's right to use their voice". The idea for this one came about because our children are getting older. With our preteens especially, they are running out of patience for the little ones. We are finding ourselves in the middle of yelling matches instead of using effective communication. There is also some ignoring going on and boundaries being violated.

I am excited as to see this rule put into place. When my 6 year old became frustrated last night and started to jump up and down whining, I reminded her to use her voice. She was able to stop and tell me what was going on. Later on, two of the children were wrestling and it was getting too rough and one child began yelling, "stop", I simply had to remind the other child to respect their siblings voice. Their sibling shouldn't have to YELL stop, a simple stop should be respected. So far, this seems to be working. I am sure it won't work every time, but it is progress in a house full of children that want to have their say and want to be heard. Isn't that something we all kind of want?

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6 (NIV)

I have really been convicted in this area and am still being worked on. I have learned to use words of love instead of words that might cause fear. I want my children to be able to lift one another up as well as those around them. How great will it be when they grow up and have at least 5 other people to talk to that can fill them with truth and grace when they need it most?

Have you taken the time to use your voice? Are you lifting up those around you and presenting grace to the world? Are you respecting the voice other people have been give? Are you respecting your children's voice? (this was a big one for me) Are you teaching your children to use their voice?  I am looking forward to growing in this area and I pray you will join me!

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ,
Johnna Payne-Hurt