Slow and Steady

The text message stopped me , took my breath away for a second , and felt like a knife that had been plunged into my heart . It was my oldest son’s birthday , and I was planning on making him a special dinner . I had texted him to tell him to try to be hungry this evening as I was going to make him something special . I was not prepared for the answer I got back . “ Try to be hungry ? If I am hungry , I am hungry , and if I’m not , I’m not . Also , a ‘ birthday supper ’ is completely unnecessary . ” There it was , like a slap in the face . How could he say that ? See if I do anything like that for him again . So ungrateful . Doesn’t he care about how I feel ? I’m done .

Normally , my son is very logical and straightforward . He doesn’t have a vindictive or mean - spirited bone in his body . He is just very matter - of - fact and tells it as he sees it . So I should have known , from his perspective , a special fuss made just for him wasn’t necessary . But I reacted emotionally instead of slowing down and thinking through what he said .

Luckily , I didn’t respond quickly or out of my anger and hurt . Instead , I waited and took counsel from my husband . Then the first chance my son had to come in the house and see me , he apologized , saying , “ I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did . I was only trying to tell you that you needn’t go to a lot of trouble for me. That’s why I hate texting . ”

How many times in our lives do we not take the time to slow down and let words and situations sink in before we react ? I can tell you , friends , that I have done it more times than I care to admit — causing more harm than if I had just waited and prayed before saying or doing anything . Thankfully , I didn’t react out of my misunderstanding of my son’s text , which could have caused more pain than just my hurt feelings .

God wants us to be mindful, careful in how we act and react when dealing with one another . He urges us to be slow to anger and slow to speak, two areas that can cause great damage in relationships. In the busy, fast - paced lives we live, let’s all make sure we take the time to listen carefully, to be slow to speak, and to be even slower to become angry .

My prayer for you, dear friend, is that you will live a slow and steady life in Christ .

Debra Snyder