Often, I say to myself, 'I am a woman, so it's typical of me to be prideful in some way; and giving that up would cost me an effort'. A Christian woman however, would adhere to what God says in Proverbs 22:4, 'Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life'. So everytime I think that I am JUST a girl whose very nature could be pride and prejudice, God would always remind me that I am no longer that girl, but his daughter whose goal is to be Christ-like.
My Grandma, I must say, has been very VERY strict to the point that I actually thought I wasn't living in a home anymore. She says what she wants to say without considering the person she could be hurting; as long as her anger has not subsided, she would express every piercing word she could think of. If I were to relate it to some fairytale, I should say I am more of a Hansel and Gretel story where the candy-land-dream-house had suddenly become a nightmare because of a frightening wicked witch; or perhaps I could also be the lovely Aurora (a.k.a Sleeping Beauty) who voluntarily pricks herself because of the witch's curse. Oh, if I could just sleep for years like her.
Anyway, I'm not saying that my Grandma is a witch (a bit though) nor a curse of sort. She just finds it too difficult to contain her anger so she acts that way. In fact recently, her latest dilemma is our allegedly 'disrespect' toward her. She keeps saying that we treat her like a maid and that we are so arrogant to the point that she longs to leave us. Well yes, she's old and all, so we really have to understand her. But the question is, how are we to manage our patience? How are we to prevent ourselves from being provoked to stand up and defend our side? If I were not a Christian, I must say I've probably announced another war. But thank God I AM a Christian! The only key I have each time my Grandma would get really angry with a reason not so significant is to keep silent and pray. This alone, does not solve the problem though.
My sister must have known that our Grandma loves presents. So after going to church, we bought her a cake with a message dedicated to her, of course. 'Sorry lola. We love you. God bless' were the written words. My sister would have to go back to church and attend her ministry so I'm left to be the one to give it to our Grandma. On my way home I actually felt irritated. I was thinking that maybe she would dislike the idea of wasting money over a cake and things would just get worse. But again, I prayed. God knows we've done our part, so it's now His to settle things.
And voila! As soon as I got home I presented her the cake immediately, saying the words 'Sorry' all over again and kissed her really tight. I wasn't really the sweet type of person so it really took me a lot of prayer to do that. She was really touched that she almost cried, and in return I felt happy that God has done it. She said that as long as my sister would not arrive late at night (before 9 PM) anymore then she wouldn't get mad. Seems like we now have a stricter curfew.
'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.' Ephesians 6:12. Hurting each other physically will not help. Solving it spiritually results to a lasting peace and harmony because God will be the center of everything.
--------------------------------
Philippians 4:6 - 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.'
My Grandma, I must say, has been very VERY strict to the point that I actually thought I wasn't living in a home anymore. She says what she wants to say without considering the person she could be hurting; as long as her anger has not subsided, she would express every piercing word she could think of. If I were to relate it to some fairytale, I should say I am more of a Hansel and Gretel story where the candy-land-dream-house had suddenly become a nightmare because of a frightening wicked witch; or perhaps I could also be the lovely Aurora (a.k.a Sleeping Beauty) who voluntarily pricks herself because of the witch's curse. Oh, if I could just sleep for years like her.
Anyway, I'm not saying that my Grandma is a witch (a bit though) nor a curse of sort. She just finds it too difficult to contain her anger so she acts that way. In fact recently, her latest dilemma is our allegedly 'disrespect' toward her. She keeps saying that we treat her like a maid and that we are so arrogant to the point that she longs to leave us. Well yes, she's old and all, so we really have to understand her. But the question is, how are we to manage our patience? How are we to prevent ourselves from being provoked to stand up and defend our side? If I were not a Christian, I must say I've probably announced another war. But thank God I AM a Christian! The only key I have each time my Grandma would get really angry with a reason not so significant is to keep silent and pray. This alone, does not solve the problem though.
My sister must have known that our Grandma loves presents. So after going to church, we bought her a cake with a message dedicated to her, of course. 'Sorry lola. We love you. God bless' were the written words. My sister would have to go back to church and attend her ministry so I'm left to be the one to give it to our Grandma. On my way home I actually felt irritated. I was thinking that maybe she would dislike the idea of wasting money over a cake and things would just get worse. But again, I prayed. God knows we've done our part, so it's now His to settle things.
And voila! As soon as I got home I presented her the cake immediately, saying the words 'Sorry' all over again and kissed her really tight. I wasn't really the sweet type of person so it really took me a lot of prayer to do that. She was really touched that she almost cried, and in return I felt happy that God has done it. She said that as long as my sister would not arrive late at night (before 9 PM) anymore then she wouldn't get mad. Seems like we now have a stricter curfew.
'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.' Ephesians 6:12. Hurting each other physically will not help. Solving it spiritually results to a lasting peace and harmony because God will be the center of everything.
--------------------------------
Philippians 4:6 - 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.'
*Disclaimer: I do not own any of the pictures used above. I'm borrowing them for the purpose of illustrating.
