Ballerina

One of my favorite (and least favorite) things about being a Christian is the constant change it brings. The Holy Spirit speaks to me daily about my attitude, character and habits and gently shows me the places that I need... let's say refining.

Most recently the Lord has been speaking to me about becoming a graceful person. A woman that extends grace to others generously. As grace has been freely given to me by the Father, I want to learn to easily give grace to other people.

I think we are all graceful in certain areas; the places in our lives that are easy for us to not get upset about, or the ways we are more understanding. For example, the other day Kyle accidentally got food on my shirt. No problem to me, I whipped out my Tide pen to go and took care of it without ever being frustrated with him. Extending grace for accidents or mistakes is easy to me.

Now on the other hand, you put me with someone who is stubborn and close minded and I pull out my judgmental guns in no time. Or when someone says something inappropriate or is hard-hearted towards the Lord, I am a cannon ready to fire with opinion about their behavior.

Kyle is the exact opposite! He has such amazing grace for people who drive me crazy but he would have a more difficult time with me spilling food on him. No matter what gets you judging people and losing your cool, it is the same bottom line. Unending grace has been given to you... shouldn't we learn to give it to others?

The habit of judgment is not from the Holy Spirit but directly from a spirit of pride or criticism. I was telling Kyle that I am committed to changing and needed his help to remind me of this when I start heading down the path of criticism. Of course, when you recruit your spouse to keep you accountable you need it to be done in a very "easy to swallow" way. So I told Kyle to just let me know by calling me "Ballerina". A quick and inoffensive way to remind me that I am to walk down a graceful path and not one that nit picks other people.

Ballerina is silly, but that is why I chose it. When I am stuck in the mind set of judging another person, I will need a goofy reminder to refocus my thoughts and say "Holy Spirit, I messed up again. Thank you for being a very patient and GRACEFUL teacher. I give you control, please help me to do better next time."

- Katy