Before I became a wife or parent, I assumed I would be able to be mature, healthy, loving, and successful in these relationships all the time. Conflict in my own heart and life, and the stress of living with so many needs and so many constant demands, showed me my selfishness — or at least my exhaustion and emptiness.
I longed for mercy, but especially gentleness. I meant to be patient, giving, loving, but I had my limits. It was through my different children, and the demands of everyday life, that I learned the need for gentleness — again.
At what point does a woman find the ability to be gentle, to show mercy, understanding, compassion? When she understands that her heart is immature, prone to making bad choices, limited in patience, and just beginning to comprehend what love requires. She acknowledges that she herself is fragile; she learns how to extend the grace she wishes to receive to others she loves, because they, too, are fragile and want gentleness and mercy.
Read more about this in Well Lived.
