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How patient are you while standing in a line with a slow
cashier? How about while driving behind
a car who is going below the speed limit? 5 miles below? 10 miles below? What about waiting for an
email someone said they just sent to you?
Do you do what I do? Hit the F9
key over and over to see if the email came in yet? I ask because I wonder if I
am alone in this thought process.
We live in an instant gratification society.
Instant coffee versus percolator coffee.
Fast food and microwaves versus cooking a meal that takes an
hour or longer.
Email in seconds versus snail mail that used to take weeks.
Bullet trains.
Why am I bringing all of this up today? Good question. Not because I found the secret to becoming a
more patient person. Honestly, we do
learn patience through the many trials we experience. Each trial gives us thicker skin and a lesson
to take home we can learn from, or if we are stubborn, relearn again.
Trust me, I have relearned many lessons…lol.
These past six months have been a trial in patience and
learning to say no. Often my lessons come
in multiples.
Patience…
I have learned patience as we have had more difficult
customers this past year than in previous years. It has been a grueling year as people’s
tempers are at an all-time high with prices, politics, and other personal
issues. I am practicing patience as I pray
before answering the phone. Praying for discernment
and the right words to reach the person on the other side of the phone. Sometimes I am able to reach them with empathy
or a little humor. However, if I can’t
win them over, I pray after the call that God will reach them for me using
someone else. I take each day as a new
challenge with God by my side when I open the doors and start our day.
Learning to say no…
This is a very hard lesson for me. I want to help everyone. My husband and I are often ‘doers’ and not
much ‘sitters’ lol. Saying no is not part
of my vocabulary. However, we all know –
you cannot say yes to everything because something will suffer. Too many spinning plates in the air will
absolutely ensure some will fall to the ground.
So, I have had to say no.
God is working on me. It’s my
personal struggle. I understand it and I
am willing to listen to His still small voice.
I know what it is like when I ignore the signs. I have before. It’s not pretty. Again,
I wait patiently as God tells me to step back on a few things as He works on me
and the things around me.
Well, I wait… kind of patiently…lol
Still a work in progress!
Praying in the waiting!
Love you guys!
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Exodus 14:14 NIV
Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is
quick-tempered displays folly.
Proverbs 14:29
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud.
1 Corinthians 13:4
Better a patient person than a warrior, one with
self-control than one who takes a city.
Proverbs 16:32
