Conditioner for the Frizz

Pretty sure God's trying to tell me something.

Remember when I was talking about being a listening board for my husband?  Do you have any idea how much SELF CONTROL that takes me?  It is not in my nature to be a listening board.  I'm a sounding board, and I make sound often.

Too often.  Way too often.  Too much sound comes from me.  And yet I expect my children to listen when I need them to stop talking (or making noise) for a few minutes in the car.  I expect my husband to know when to focus on the noise that is constantly coming out of my mouth.

Self control.  Hm.

The Focus on the Family Thrive magazine has an article on self-control and how to teach it to every member of the family, broken down by ages.  Preschool, school-age, tween, teen, parents.... For parents, they mention weighing your words.

I Can Teach My Child had a great show and share link up that had a cute little sign using THINK as an acrostic: Before you speak, think - is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind.

We've all been taught to think before we speak - to stop, think about the repercussions of those words, and then choose carefully.  My parents are still trying to teach me this and, sadly, so is Mr. Curly.

And, considering how many times I've ran across this lesson in the past few weeks, so is God.  I've been trying to actively live this lesson for a week now, and let me tell you, it is hard.  It is so against me to hold things in.  My excuse is a great quote from Music & Lyrics "I have no filtering system."
But I know that's not true, I know it is just an excuse.

I'm reading Love and War by John & Stasi Eldridge, and while not specifically mentioning self-control in your words, it is behind almost every tip they give for strengthening your marriage.  And if it can strengthen a marriage, think about how much it can do for your relationship with God.

I'm thinking that this self-control, this stopping and thinking, which sometimes means not saying anything, could be a major conditioner for the frizziness of life.

In two days I'll be spending a lot of time in airports and on airplanes, and even more time in airports and on planes again on Tuesday.  Part of me wants to take Joel Osteen's Become A Better You, or even It's Your Time. 
Except, that is really just filling my mind with more noise.... noise I don't really need.
I think instead, I'll take my Bible and a notebook. 

I'll do some free writing, practice being that listening board, and see what God has to say to me.