His Mother's Eyes

When I am feeling a bit angry or perturbed at someone, I tend to glare at them. My glare is, apparently, striking enough that some friends simply call it "the look." As in, "Oooh, you just got the look from Ellen. She must be mad." I used to be somewhat proud of "the look."

Josiah has my eyes. I am not referring the shape, color or other physical features of his eyes. It appears that "the look" is hereditary and I have become a frequent recipient of it. Even small annoyances or frustrations will prompt our five-year old to turn around and skewer me with "the look."

It's a little scary being on the other end "the look" and this has made me realize that it's not my best feature. In fact, I really don't like "the look" at all and am somewhat appalled that I used to be proud of it. I've been reading Philippians and Ephesians recently and let's just say that my "gentleness" is not evident at all when I use the look. And I am certainly not being humble, gentle, patient, or bearing with the unfortunate recipient of "the look" in love (Eph. 4:2).

So Josiah and I came up with a new look last night. When we are tempted to give each other "the look," we decided to make a silly face instead. I'm not sure if we will use the new look or not. But I hope I will start using "the look" less often and that my eyes will begin to communicate more gentleness and patience.