Words of Affirmation

The way that I feel connected and loved is through words of affirmation. All it takes is just a word or two and I'm good to go for a while. It's amazing how much that does for my spirits and desire to keep moving forward and serve.

Yesterday afternoon I received some words of affirmation and I went from feeling very down and discouraged to being upbeat, excited and ready to continue in my ministry. It's like a dose of adrenaline for me.

All of this lead to some reflection about my own children and their particular love language and then it lead to a lightbulb moment about a situation I've been dealing with.

One of my children is a lot like me which is probably why we clash from time to time. When I ask this one about something, in their ears it's coming across as me treating them like they are still a child. When I make a suggestion, they hear, "You can't do anything right." It's a vicious cycle that we've been going around and around for months now.

But when the lightbulb came on this morning, I realized that the times I don't suggest or criticize or comment, but give a compliment or positive response are the times that this child is cheerful and good-natured. It's the words of affirmation they need, not the criticism. 

Sigh. Being the parent of an adult child is tough sometimes, but I want to build a better communication style with my children. I want to give them those words of affirmation because without them this child of mine doesn't feel loved or valued. I know because I'm the same way. 

So I'm going to keep working on this area and do a better job of being affirming. Onward and upward I go!