Can You See a Difference?

I just had a crazy radical question as I was reading my devotions this morning.....

What makes us (Christians) so different then anyone else? Or, maybe I should ask: What SHOULD make us (Christians) different from anyone else?

Really, we don't always look that different except for our programs and prayer groups, but that all seems so "internal", inside the walls of the church. I can get so tired of being judged by people who think they know who I am, but do I also do the same thing to others without even realizing it? That doesn't make me much different than the rest of the world. Do we love without feeling the warm and fuzzies, just because we make a choice to love? That's kind of a different philosophy that goes against the cultural mainstream. Or, should we stop repaying evil with more evil? That, too, is a different mindset. Can we (I) honestly swallow our (my) pride and admit our (my) mistakes instead of making excuses for them?

Although, I'm not sure how this ties together, I was hit this morning that when I yell at my kids and deal with them harshly, I am lacking the proper amount of respect for the fact that God has trusted their stewardship to me. They need discipline, but what they don't need is a stark raving lunatic mama who is seeing an ENT today as a result of my inability to deal with their disobedience in a calm way 50% of the time. Moms joke that yelling just goes with the territory, but I don't see it in my Bible anywhere. Rod, yes. Yelling, no. This is an area personally I want to ask God to change me. It is an area I believe I have compromised because I know so many other mamas that do it, too. I took some sort of comfort in knowing it can't be THAT bad if so many others are doing it. Well, I don't take comfort in it anymore and hope and pray that God will show me a way to deal with this in a more peaceful, loving way. Maybe this is the way we start to make a difference?

Ok....where did that come? True confessions of a shrieker mom.....news at 11.