A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning is not a blessing. Proverbs 27:14 NLT
What are your differences?
Sleep
Are you an owl or a lark? The owl loves to stay up late while the lark is up before sunrise. There is research to show that we are hard-wired with this selection. The most important portion of this research, however, seems to be to make sure to get six to seven hours of quality sleep every night.
Sometimes the most loving thing you can do to show your love is let the important people in your life sleep and rest. This is a hard one for me because I am a morning person. Yet, I am ready to fall asleep after 10 pm. Does that make me more productive? Absolutely not.
Active Expressions of Love and Honor:
- Discuss sleep patterns and allow those closest to you to honor their individual biological sleep cues.
- Crank up the white noise. You can get inexpensive white noise providers or even use an app to drown out the noises that might awaken you or keep you from falling asleep.
Opposites Attract
Here are a few examples of how opposites can attract: those who plan vs. impulsives, extroverts vs. introverts, adrenaline junkies vs. faithful plodders, those craving security vs. those who seek adventure. We must admit that something inside us is drawn to those who balance out our dominant inclinations with complementary tendencies. This is where honor must enter the picture.
If every thread in the tapestry is the same color, then it is a piece of fabric and not a work of art. Honor and CELEBRATE the differences.Click To TweetBe aware of the strengths of others. What may be irritating about them could simply be the balance that you need in your life. Is there an area where you are not as strong as you want to be? Surround yourself with others who have excel in that area.
Love does not seek to change the other person. Instead, you honor the one who God has brought into your life.
I love my Mom’s saying,
The Lord blesses or afflicts you with people according to your need(s).
Active Expressions of Love and Honor:
- Review the stories of how you met and what attracted you to each other
- Share funny stories of how you worked through differences with your variety of perspectives
Prayer
Lord, thank You for the variety of people you have placed in my life. I celebrate these differences including the circadian rhythm of sleep. I love being a morning person and will celebrate the new day with quiet worship and doing things that I love to do each day. Give me the grace and mercy to enjoy this time as my loved one needs his cup of coffee to get going. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Click here to read the rest of the #Write28Days series.
Author, speaker, corporate trainer, ordained minister and Hope Catalyst, Karen Sebastian enjoys sharing her rich life experiences with others – engaging them in adventurous discoveries of the beauty of hope in a dark, cloudy world. Her books will inspire you to embrace hope no matter what you are going through. As a caregiver and widow she took brave steps forward to fulfill God’s calling on her life. She has now remarried and enjoys her new hubby and spending time with their children and grandchildren. To increase hope and improve relationships with yourself and those that you love, check out her Facebook page – The Power of Hope.
I love how this simple truth applies to many areas of life, just because a loved one does something differently than me, doesn’t make either one of us wrong. There are many opportunities to show grace. A lesson I am trying to teach my children. I hope you have a lovely weekend!
Liz,
Thanks for stopping by. I love that you are teaching this truth to your children. They will soar when they learn to apply this principle. You too! Enjoy those kiddos! They are blessed to have you as a Mom.
Karen
God made us all different. This is a great post reminding us to respect the differences.
And I am so glad He did. Think of how boring life could be if we were all the same. Thanks for dropping by!
I seldom get 7-8 hours of sleep, usually waking up before the 5AM alarm but not falling asleep until after 11 or 12. I feel it by Thursday. I’m a caregiver to my sister and visiting caregiver to our mom. Thanks for saying it’s ok to get more sleep. I’ll work on it. Like the website. Your FMF neighbor.
Suzette,
I fully understand how that can happen as a caregiver. Be kind to yourself. You are loved and cherished!
Karen
What a practical way to show honor and love! And yet, so overlooked! Thank you for sharing your insight!
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I am excited to read your posts as well.