What Will Your Ripples Be Today?

By: Jenifer Metzger

Have you ever thrown a pebble into the water? What happened? You saw ripples form, little circles from the affect of throwing a pebble in. Even if you simply touch water, ripples are quick to follow.

Ripples don't just happen in the water, they happen in life too. 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 a bad ripple 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.

Discussion:
1. Think of ripples for a minute. What is an example of a bad ripple you've been a part of? How did you feel or how did things turn out?
2. What good ripples can you cause today?