All right, all ready…

patience is not my virtue. As though I had wondered if I could wear this badge, I can most certainly not. Which is probably why things continue to occur in my life that require the practice of patience. Remember Mama always said, “Practice makes perfect.” Maybe she was referring to my piano practice, but neverthemind.

I’ve had plenty of time to think through the things that require my practicing of patience. I’ve listed them in random order: being a woman, being a wife, being a mom, homeschooling, teaching the Bible, grocery shopping, driving, reading blogs, writing blogs, organizing my closet, being on bedrest, waiting for a diagnosis, and being alive in general.

I may have left some specifics out.

Anyway, so while I would not previously have described myself as a particularly patient person, I would have glossed the depth of my impatience with the statement that God had definitely sanctified me in the area of impatience, and that I was learning through so many of the above listed things to be more patient.

Two weeks of bedrest and another week of tests without a clear diagnosis but still obvious trouble, and I would have to say to my former self, “Hogwash and rats buckets!”

I stand convicted as one in stripes preferring her own timetable and timing and purposes over all others. Reality is a hard pill to swallow. And I haven’t even read Jerry Bridges’ Respectable Sins yet.

What then is God teaching me?

Patience, patience, and patience. Along with healthy doses of humility and dependence.