Parenting is hard - especially in those moments when you and your spouse don't see eye-to-eye on how to handle a child-rearing situation. Thankfully these types of moments don't happen very often in our home. Even better, my heart has been softened and I now seek out God's guidance so He can gracefully lead me through those situations when they do come up.

A few nights ago my spouse was disciplining our child and acted in a way that I found harsh. In the past this would have caused contention, maybe even an argument (maybe even an argument in front of the children!) - but not this time! Instead of immediately jumping in to give my opinion on my spouse's terrible parenting technique, I prayed to the Lord for His guidance, waited until the initial anger had gone, and then spoke with my spouse. Through God's grace my words were words that built up instead of tearing down, and my spouse and I both left the conversation feeling enlightened instead of angry and bitter.