Yesterday I just returned home from the SHE SPEAKS writers conference in North Carolina. It was an incredible experience, with over 800 women. (yes I know, that's a lot of estrogen in one spot and had it been a particular time of the month for most of us without enough chocolate there, things could have gotten ugly!) It exceeded all of my expectations beyond what I actually came for. The information that I attained in all my sessions was outstanding however, it paled in comparison to what I was witnessing for 3 days straight;
KINDNESS TO ALL WOMEN, FROM ALL WOMEN!
Now to be fair, I'm sure most of the women there like myself, didn't have a familiar face with them that they could cling to, so everyone was putting out their best when meeting new people and making connections. BUT, wouldn't that be great if we did that to others everyday and not just for people we don't know?
Proverbs 11:17 “Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.”
God likes it when we are kind to one another. And the closer we can act like him; the closer we are to him.
The power of our words matter and how we speak to one another can bring about positive or negative results. This conference was a witness to that, because we all intentionally gave our best. This isn't anything that I didn't know before. I tell my children this all the time, but sometimes I need to be reminded as well. I'm impatient and when things don't go the way I plan them to, what I speak, can fall short of what I know. And if I'm being totally honest here, things like technology, overbooking my time and the Walmart pick-up aren't helping me gain patience either! ( That's not biblical, but something to consider as well!)
Somedays I need to make an intentional effort in my everyday life to give others my best. When we speak kindly, people notice. And when we don't, people notice. Sometimes it seems like women can have a harder time bringing their best to other women, or maybe it's just me. Regardless, when I'm looking at others and paying attention to how "she speaks," I need to look at myself first, and see how "I speak."