I try not to raise my voice, but sometimes I do. I try to be patient and use my teaching voice instead of an angry voice. Our two-year-old granddaughter often points out the one thing at mealtime she doesn't like. When Gram (my wife) sets the plate in front of her, she might say, "But I don't like peas!" or "But I didn't want a red plate, I want a blue plate!" So sometimes she loudly points out the one thing she doesn't like.

What is looming before you today? Is it a decision that’s grabbed your attention? Does your problem have dollar signs? Maybe it’s a medical diagnosis? Perhaps it is a relationship that’s causing pain, stress, or grief?

A Reporter once asked a woman from the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra: “How does it feel to get a standing ovation from the crowd at the end of your performance and then wake up in the morning to a negative review in the newspaper?” She said over time she has learned not to pay attention to the applause of the crowd or the disapproval of the critics. She was only after the approval of her conductor.

“Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16 CSB).