Patience

My best friend sings a song called “Patience”.

“Lord teach me to trust and lean on your will. Should I get in a hurry please help me stand still. Patience is a virtue and a weakness of mine. I struggle with the outcome of time; would you build up my faith, teach me to wait.”

Patience is not something I contain much of unfortunately. As a Christian I know in my heart that I have to trust in God, believe in His timing and His plans, and be patient for the outcome. But my how hard that is for the human mind and heart to process.

I’m sure you know what I mean. Impatience can creep up in so many instances both great and small. Even just in the small daily chores you can be upset if your husband hasn’t taken the trash out, or if your child has made a mess they haven’t cleaned up. The drive to work behind a slow driver, or a traffic jam can ruin your whole day. When it comes to the little things like this I will be the first to tell you (and I’m sure my family will be the second) that I lose my cool super fast! It’s a trait that bless her soul I’ve passed on to my sweet daughter as well. I know this about me though, and when I’m focused and observant I can usually get my own self in check.

The larger things though now that’s where I really struggle. Whether it be about a job I’m seeking, a financial burden I’m dealing with or a dream I have for my children….I am not patient at all! I think we all go through this and topics like these are the types of things I hope to continue to share with you more in depth as time goes on. To share my struggles, and how I overcome them.

We all want the absolute best for our children, we want them to have the opportunities and experiences that we didn’t minus the mistakes and heartaches. However, they are going to probably make the mistakes, have the heartache, and most likely even follow exactly in our footsteps whether they be good or bad. As parents it is so difficult to sit back and watch that happen but that’s exactly what we have to do. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve prayed for my children, but I can tell you that no matter what God has always kept them. The lessons may not always have been easy, but He has gotten them through, and they know it.

Finances, whew, that is a topic all of it’s own isn’t it?! Nothing can stress you out or damage a marriage like finances. We certainly have had our struggles in that department. We have worked hard though and gotten ourselves to a much better place though and I’m very proud of that. In doing so our relationship has also improved. The best thing that ever happened was when we got on the same page with our finances, and I stopped bearing that burden and worry alone. We couldn’t always financially provide everything we wanted to our children when they were younger, but we are in a position now where we can help them out with things and we take great pleasure in that. We’ve learned to trust God in our finances after seeing Him bring us through difficult times over and over again when there seemed there was no way.

Job seeking/searching is probably one of the toughest things I’ve ever been through and I’ve found that it’s only gotten harder as I’ve gotten older. I know for many they say just “go to work, do your job, and go home”. I wish I could believe that’s how it should be but I just don’t. I truly believe that God wants us happy, even in our jobs. There are tons of jobs out there all intertwined to make this world go round, so it’s just silly to me to think that a job is simply a means to an end and we should get no pleasure in it. Not only do I think we should love and enjoy what we do at work every day, but I believe that life would be much happier for everyone if we all felt this way at work. More often than not though it seems like we are just going through the motions. As I get older I find myself seeking much more fulfillment in my daily life but my patience in trying to figure out what that is, well that is wearing thin. Of course I know my sleep schedule is a factor in that too. So I’m having to put that all in God’s hands also.

The best way I know to get through all of these trials is to pray. Of course I say that but I’m not nearly as good about it as I should be. I will admit I rely heavily on the prayers of those around me. It goes back to my last post, without others prayers I don’t know where I’d be. In the afternoons when I first wake up though, I fix a cup of coffee, walk out onto my porch and look into the mountains. We are at a point in the year when things are turning green and beginning to flower, birds are chirping and the air just feels refreshing. I’ve found that it’s this time when I most feel at peace, sitting in the quiet of nature preparing myself for my day. Though it’s morning for me, it’s afternoon for everyone else, so I wake up to texts, emails and Facebook notifications to read. As I try to navigate them all some uplift me, some discourage me. I know however that I must continue pushing forward, I must continue trusting in God’s plan, I must continue believing that His ways are better than mine, and most of all I must have patience. This is when I always have to remind myself of my favorite scripture so that I can get through another day.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

~Carla~