Patience

The last few weeks have really had me pondering the concept of patience. I once thought myself to be a fairly patient individual, but I am realizing quickly that parenthood changes the entire meaning of that word. For example, my normally sweet tempered, smiley, happy-go-lucky baby has been teething, and with that comes a lot of grief and weird schedules. He has had days that just make me want to hand him off to someone else and forget about it for a day.

Then I remember God.

He is not just patient with us when it is easy. I know that I personally have had some days that He was righteously angry with me for my behavior, but through it all there was absolutely no chance that He would give up on me. His love could never be conditional, I have been saved by His grace, through faith, not of myself, it is a gift from God. Even in my darkest days (and He knows there have been some VERY dark days), He never stopped being patient while slowly bringing me back to Himself.

Today has been a hard day, between the massive cleanup this morning after a post-bath pre-diaper disaster in the bouncer, the fussiness while getting ready for church, and not having any clean clothes because I didn't get around to laundry recently (nor did I have any clothes that fit properly for that matter). But no matter how much I want everything to go perfectly, I know that it won't, I can't expect it to, and God wants me to be patient no matter what struggles I face.

So Lord, thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn to be patient, even if it means testing it many, many times along the way!