Patience is a Virtue

I used to be the most patient person I knew. Waiting in rush hour traffic never bothered me, standing in a long line was no big deal, or even waiting at the doctor's office was just a time for me to catch up on reading. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, I lost my patience. Now in my early 30's, there is nothing worse then being behind a slow driver, or sitting around waiting for your doctor when he should have been in the room twenty minutes ago. I can feel my blood pressure start to rise, I'll tap my foot in frustration, and sigh loudly.

As a parent now, I have found that my patience level has gone down even further. While everyone told me the first year was going to be the hardest, I found it to be a piece of cake! It is the toddler years that I am finding to be the struggle, and the source of losing my patience. I never take out my frustrations on my child, because it is not his fault that he whines for thirty minutes because I told him it is not safe to climb on the couch when mommy is not there with him, or because he doesn't want to eat the nice dinner I made for him. It also isn't his fault when he whines and cries about taking a nap, or going to bed. With lack of communication, he can't tell me what he really wants, and doesn't understand me when I tell him something isn't safe, or a no-no. But as calm as I am on the outside to him, on the inside I just feel my patience slipping, and I get frustrated and just want to leave the house and take a break.

I know I am not the only mother who feels this way, we all go through it, especially us stay at home mom's that deal with everything on our shoulders day in and day out. But I've come to realize that we cannot change these things, such as the slow driver in the fast lane, or the child who refuses to take a nap. Getting frustrated and impatience is only going to make the situation worse. I'm coming to understand that I just need to let go, and let God.

In Romans 12:12 it says: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. When times feel as though they are getting to be too much to handle, when you feel your blood pressure start to rise and you feel like yelling and screaming, just take a minute, a deep breathe, and pray. Tell the Lord that the situation you are in is becoming more then you can handle, and you need peace and calmness. Give your worries over to the Lord, tell Him what you need and hand it over to Him. He wants to solve your troubles, He wants you to be at peace.

The other day I found myself in the position of losing my patience when my son was fighting me on nap time. I took a minute to myself in my room to take a deep breathe, and pray for peace. I felt a calmness come over me, and I was able to go into my son's room and I believe he felt the peace I had, because he settled down in my arms and was able to fall asleep for his nap.

Don't ever be ashamed to ask for the Lord's help when times are hard and we are suffering, for He is there for us. It is during these times of strife, and impatience, and frustration, that we can become closer to the Lord.


More then that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us Romans 5:3-5

Reconnecting with my Faith

There have been many times in my life where I have felt an urging to do something, an inner voice perhaps that sounded as though it was my own, but now, learning more about my faith in God, I realize that the voice I have been hearing is that of God speaking to me, giving me a path and direction for what I am meant to do. Many times, that voice in my head tells me that I need to spread the Word of God. When I see people speaking about God on television, such as preachers, or I read articles or devotionals, I often feel in my heart that I could do that, that I can use my talents in writing to share my faith with others. But I never do.

I suppose I have always been afraid to speak of my faith in the Lord. Like politics, people have different views and opinions and beliefs, and religion has become something that can cause either a common understand between people, or strife. I have always been a very non-confrontational person. Never want to say something that could upset anyone, never want to disagree. Even if someone says something that I do not agree with, or believe, I will just nod as though I do so I do not make waves. I have always felt uncomfortable speaking about the Lord, for reasons I just do not know. I suppose maybe someone will think I am a bible thumper, pushing my views on them whether it is wanted or not. Sometimes I even think I am ashamed, because there have been times recently when I have not been very strong in my faith, when I haven't prayed faithfully, when I haven't been a good Christian.

I've come to a point in my life recently, when it seems that one bad thing after another has happened to our family, that I realized the importance of rebuilding my faith in the Lord. When I prayed faithfully, when I had Him in my heart, things went well. What a difference it makes when you stray away from that! But no matter how far I strayed, God was always there, knocking on the door, silently waiting for me to answer Him and receive Him in my heart once again. I knew what I had to do; I had to open that door.

I reconnected with a friend from high school, and I noticed recently she had spoken of starting a ministry at her church, but it had not worked out. I mentioned perhaps she should start a ministry on Facebook, since it is a site we, along with many others, frequent. She liked the idea, and together we came up with a mom's bible study/blog idea for Facebook about Raising God's Child, with our motto being that we are changing the world one little heartbeat at a time. My hope is that through my blog, and hers, and with a fan page she is going to be setting up through Facebook, we can come together with other mom's who are with Christ, and raising their children in Christ's love, and all share our struggles and our blessings as we go through life. Once we get everything set I will post the information, so those of you on Facebook can join our ministry and help spread the Word.

I want to send this post with a bible verse that I came across today, that I believe truly signifies what I am meant to do, and also what this new ministry we are starting is meant to do.

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen 1Peter 4:10-11