Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:3-4 NKJV
When God wants to teach you something, He uses whatever or whomever is available to accomplish the task. This month, the lesson was in patience and the instrument was my daughter.
Her birthday was yesterday, but she started counting down the days June 1st. Every single day she managed to get herself all excited and force me to listen to her little updates, “Mom, it’s 22 more days until my birthday. I’ll be nine years old! I’m almost a teenager. I can’t wait! Why is it taking so long to get here? I want my new bike now! Can I please, please have it now? What color is it? Are we going out somewhere? I need some new clothes. Blah, blah blah…”
Every day, I suffered through some version of this ‘super animated little girl dialogue,’ and when I say ‘suffered’ – I mean it – literally. Do you have any idea what it’s like to have to say over and over again, “Be still, calm down, be patient, you can wait. Nobody ever died from waiting. Please leave me alone?” To be honest, I thought about strangling the child a couple of times. 🙂
She was waiting for her birthday to hurry up and get here and I was waiting for it to hurry up and be over. Yesterday, she finally had her big day, got the pretty, pink, “big girl” bike she was longing, yearning, obsessing over and all was well in her world.
Today (the day I was waiting for) is here and I am enjoying the wonderful peace I knew this day would bring. I woke up feeling satisfied and happy this morning because all is well – in my world too.
Lord my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:1-2
That’s one of my weaknesses- patience! I try my hardest to practice it, but I still always seem to fail. I feel that God is also using my daughter to teach me that lesson.