\u201cHer mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.\u201d \u00a0Proverbs 31:26 CSB
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The word instruction in this verse comes from the word \u201cyarah\u201d which means to teach, to instruct. The verse comes from the description of the Proverbs 31 woman, described as a \u201cWife of Noble Character\u201d. She wasn\u2019t crabby, she used love to instruct those around her.
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When \u00a0I first started teaching tennis, I learned this statistic. \u00a0Children remember 80% of what you say to them, while you only remember 20% of what you say. \u00a0I\u2019ve learned this truth as I\u2019ve had them mimic back to me my words. It has changed my life drastically, this one little statistic. \u00a0It\u2019s made me realize the power of my words to influence the next generation. Sometimes, as I\u2019m on the tennis court teaching, I have a flashback from my childhood, to a coach that encouraged and inspired me to be the best version of me. \u00a0Words that have stuck with me for over 30 years, makes me realize, words I say to these kids now could be reverberating in their minds years in the future. It makes you think twice about what you say. Speaking uplifting and encouraging words takes on a new meaning.
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It can be challenging though. When the sun is beating down, the temperature is over 90 and no one is listening, it\u2019s hard to stay positive. The frustration begins to boil in me as the kids begin to complain about the heat. After all, I\u2019m working in the heat too, longer than they are. They only have to do an hour, I\u2019ve got to do 3 or 4, even more some days. Patience runs thin on both sides, kind words can be far from my mouth. How do you stay positive then? When the heat\u2019s turned up in your life, when the sun is beating down in its full glory, how do you keep your words loving and kind?
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I try and keep perspective. I remind myself that this is a \u201cmomentary affliction\u201d that is preparing me for eternity, looking \u201cnot to the things that are seen, but unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal\u201d (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV). It\u2019s temporary, it\u2019s going to pass, but the words I say will last longer than an hour of intense heat in the sun. My sister-in-law Jill says it this way, \u201cYou can do anything for a minute.\u201d She has told me this over and over again in my life when I was facing a tough task ahead. Whenever I\u2019ve been faced with an unpleasant task ahead, she\u2019ll use these words to encourage me. And she is right, I can do anything for a minute, an hour, even a year. The point isn\u2019t the amount of time, the point is that it won\u2019t last forever. Focus on the end game, because it will end, eventually. As the scripture says, what is seen will disappear, what is unseen will last for eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cHer mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.\u201d \u00a0Proverbs 31:26 CSB The word instruction in this verse comes from the word \u201cyarah\u201d which means to teach, to instruct. The verse comes from the description of the Proverbs 31 woman, described as a \u201cWife of Noble Character\u201d. She wasn\u2019t crabby, she used love… Continue reading USE WORDS OF LOVING KINDNESS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827\/revisions\/828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}