The World Needs a Nap

Well, It's Thanksgiving weekend. After all that turkey indeed, the world (or at least all of us Americans) probably needed a nap Thursday afternoon, whether we got one or not.

The World Needs a Nap is actually another book title I'm tossing around (I actually need to start writing these books if I'm ever going to get anywhere with them). This weekend just gave me an interesting setting in which to play off the same words and creat a post.

Isn't it funny how we come together so often for the holidays and that ends up being the time we get into arguments with family or create rifts that last for years. It's unfortunate, but coming together to celebrate often brings people together who are dealing with a lot of stuff in their non-holiday lives. Being in a setting with people who aren't aware of the context of all our emotional situations creates a catalyst for emotional eruptions, or at least emotional disruption. Sometimes it would be better if we could all just take a nap!

Thankfully (no pun intended!), I've avoided such issues this year. We've been at my mother-in law Joy's home in South Carolina. She prepared a wonderful meal on Thursday, and I can smell another one in the works for this afternoon! Friday, we went to SC's aquarium in Charleston, then the Festival of Lights at James Island Park.

Thanksgiving weekend or just regular days at home, I often--perhaps too often--suggest a nap for my kids as a solution to a bad attitude. Perhaps more often than I care to realize, I need to check my own attitude. Even when my kids attitude needs a check, the way I model a reaction to their poor decisions creates more headaches than answers, more explosions than peace.

I need to memorize more Scripture, so that I can more readily pick out proper responses to the situations I face with my kids and others each day, so that I can react in a way that is consistent with the grace God has shown me.

Perhaps I can look up some verses and either edit this post in the future or continue this discourse in future posts. Until then, take a deep breath, enjoy the turkey, enjoy each other's company; and if necessary . . . take a nap!