Learning Not to React

I had an unexpected healing and discovery lately. My daughter and I had a family gathering that we were invited to and those events have been difficult for us the past couple of years. She has been dealing with insecurities with her cousins and it has prevented us from attending many times. I had been quietly praying all day and trusting the peace and Love that I knew was surrounding us. We drove all the way there but at the driveway she got very upset and started walking down the road. I, too, got very upset, like I have done in the past. When I picked her up, I was very angry with her reaction. I suddenly realized this was the reaction that I needed to be healed of. What was needed most here was Love.

Anger flooded out of me but was shortly replaced by sadness and pity, another reaction I have had in these circumstances. I knew that sadness was also not a part of me, and in no way was helping my daughter, and I moved past this. It, too, left me, and we drove home in perfect peace and Love. I am so grateful to recognize the qualities that are not from God and to strive, slowly and forcefully, to eliminate them and focus on what is real about me. By seeing myself as God’s child, wonderfully and fearfully made, I can see others more clearly, too.