This past weekend, we hosted the family birthday party for all of the children who were born in August. My aunt was here as were my brother\u2019s family and my mom (from Oklahoma City!).\u00a0 Saturday afternoon was fun as the children chased each other from room to room, up and down the stairs, and played non-stop with balloons. (I could save a fortune on toys if I just gave them balloons.)<\/p>\n
It was halfway through my mother\u2019s visit that I realized that I don\u2019t know how to take a compliment.\u00a0 She was telling me for the 10th time how much she loved our house.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s so pretty and big,\u201d she gushed.<\/p>\n
I heard myself reply with my automatic response, \u201cIt\u2019s not really ours mom.\u00a0 We\u2019re just renting it.\u201d\u00a0 When she said how attractive the woodwork was, I told her how it was nothing really special, all my neighbors have the identical trim in their homes and that 20% of the houses around here are the same floor plan.<\/p>\n
The more she complimented me, the more I deflected it.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just her.\u00a0 I did the same thing a few weeks ago when my sister-in-law and her children came to stay, steadfastly downplaying the neighborhood pool and the spaciousness of the house. (Which is big, so why can\u2019t I let her acknowledge it?)<\/p>\n
When my aunt remarked on how polite the children were, and my mom complimented their behavior, I let it slide on past me as I said \u201cSure they\u2019re being good now, but just wait a few minutes.\u201d and then we all laughed.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been soul searching ever since.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t I take a compliment?\u00a0 What would be wrong with saying \u201cthank you\u201d and simply accepting their kind words?\u00a0 Why does that make me so uncomfortable?\u00a0 How is it that I can so readily accept nastiness from family members which would reduce most people to tears and yet a couple kind words make me want to hide?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve made a resolution for this week (one at a time until it becomes habit) of simply saying \u201cthank you\u201d and not rebutting the nice things people say.\u00a0 It\u2019s okay for people to be kind.\u00a0 It\u2019s fine for them to be complimentary.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a bad thing for folks to be admiring of the things and the family we have worked so hard to achieve.<\/p>\n
I was raised to not \u201cput on airs\u201d and put myself above anyone else.\u00a0 I lost count of how many times I was reminded that I was no better than anyone else so not to be stuck up.\u00a0 The result was that I can not accept a compliment for the kindness that it is and in the end, the people I end up being unkind to are the people in my house who deserve the praise.\u00a0 My husband has<\/i> provided us with a lovely home.\u00a0 He works very hard so that we can live in this neighborhood with all the comforts which come with living here.\u00a0 My children are<\/i> well behaved the vast majority of the time.\u00a0 They put a lot of effort into the way they act around other people.\u00a0 It is wrong of me to tear them down when someone notices what good jobs they are doing just because the praise makes me <\/i>uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
I just need to learn to be grateful, to other people for their kind words and to God for His many blessings; because the thing I\u2019ve forgotten in my busy life is that these things are from Above and in not accepting their kind words I\u2019m missing out on the opportunity to sing the praises of the One who made it all possible.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This past weekend, we hosted the family birthday party for all of the children who were born in August. My aunt was here as were my brother\u2019s family and my mom (from Oklahoma City!).\u00a0 Saturday afternoon was fun as the children chased each other from room to room, up and down the stairs, and played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n