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