Have you ever thrown a pebble into the water? What happened? You saw ripples. Even if you simply touch water, ripples are quick to follow.
Ripples don't just happen in the water, they happen in life. Everything you do makes ripples.
Sometimes we do things and bad ripples follow. We choose to stay up too late at night which causes us to oversleep, which causes a late morning, which causes a rushed morning, which causes a bad day. Ripples. We choose to over-indulge in all that delicious food someone brought to the office which causes us to feel poorly and causes our jeans to fit a little tighter than we'd like. Ripples. We choose to share something about someone that wasn't any of our business which causes the person we told to have a poor view of the object of our conversation, which causes disconnect in their relationship, which causes hurt feelings. Ripples. We are rude to the cashier at the grocery store which causes her to get upset, which is causes her to be rude to the next customer, which causes a domino effect of rude behavior. Ripples.
Then sometimes we do things and good ripples follow. We choose to go to bed a few minutes early, which causes us to wake up on time, which starts our day out good. Ripples. We choose to eat that yummy food in moderation, which helps us to stick to our health plan, which causes us to feel good. Ripples. We choose to not share what we heard about someone but instead to pray for them which causes no hurt feelings and God touching their life and ours. Ripples. We are kind to the cashier at the grocery store when she seems frustrated which causes her to calm down, which causes her to be kind to the next customer, which causes a domino effect of kindness. Ripples.
Everything we do and everything we say causes ripples. What kind of ripples are you causing? Today I challenge you to think before you speak or act. Will your ripples be bad, causing pain to you or someone else? Or will your ripples be good? Will they draw you closer to God or bless someone?
Let's be women who cause good ripples for ourselves, our families, and those around us.
It is time for the Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesday Link Up. We desire to connect women of God with one another and encourage each other in Christ. So grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea, sit back and visit a few blogs. Be encouraged and share your own stories in their comments.
If you are a blogger and would like to link up, here are three easy rules to the link up:
1. Must be a {Christian} faith post.
2. Please link back to W2W somewhere in your post. (Feel free to use our button if you'd like!)
3. Visit and comment on at least one other blog in the link up.
Inlinkz Link Party
This is so true. Thanks for the reminder to be aware of even little actions and attitudes and the ripples they send out.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Jenifer. The post caused me to look up the definition of "ripple effect": "the continuing and spreading results of an event or action." All we do will continue and spread to those around us. Nothing stays isolated or contained. Grateful to be challenged this morning to let my life ripple encouragement and joy today. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteYou touched my heart. It was exactly what I needed to remember and embrace a good ripple awareness.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful analogy. So true! When I was a teacher I saw this happening over and over. Something I said made an impression on a student. It taught me to remember to let God's light shine through me.
ReplyDeleteI love this thought. I think sometimes we forget that the world does not revolve around us and our actions do have reactions. Thank you so much for sharing this reminder.
ReplyDelete