Showing posts with label PATIENT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PATIENT. Show all posts

Day 15: PATIENT (+ Practicing Now for Patience Then)



Each day during The PURSE-onality Challenge: "A Holiday-Ready Heart" in October, Untangling Christmas by Karen Ehman and LeAnn Rice, will be our give-away prize!  

Enter via the Rafflecopter at the end of the blog post or click here to enter!




A Spontaneous Date

This weekend, Daniel invited me out to eat at one of our favorite places. His idea that he'd bike the 30 miles, and I’d drive to meet him there.

Sounds fun, right? 

And Sanguines like to have fun, right?

So why did this test my patience?

I already had a plan!  

And I do not like having anyone change my plans.


Oh, the Wait!

Once we arrived at the resaurant, we were greeted by an unexpectedly long line. Even the wait for the restroom was 10 minutes.

When we got to the front of the line, we heard, "We're out of frittata right now; do you mind waiting 15 minutes?" 

By the time our food was served, at least 30 minutes after we’d arrived, it was cold. 

And they’d forgotten the catsup.

Why did this test my patience?

I had things to do!

I like my food hot!

I want what I want when I want it!


My Time Is Not My Own

I recently finished reading The Screwtape Letters with my AP English Lit & Comp students. 

 As always, I “ouched” my way through Letter #21 because it so accurately describes my self-centered approach to time:

The more claims on life, therefore, that your patient can be induced to make, the more often he will feel injured and, as a result, ill-tempered. Now you will have noticed that nothing throws him into a passion so easily as to find a tract of time which he reckoned on having at his own disposal unexpectedly taken from him. 

It is the unexpected visitor (when he looked forward to a quiet evening), or the friend's talkative wife (turning up when he looked forward to a tête-à-tête with the friend), that throw him out of gear….

They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption "My time is my own". Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours.

You have here a delicate task. The assumption which you want him to go on making is so absurd that, if once it is questioned, even we cannot find a shred of argument in its defense. The man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift…


Pure Gift

Oh, how meeked I am to be reminded -- yet again! -- that every moment is “pure gift.”

"For the wages of sin is death, 
but the free gift of God is eternal life 
through Christ Jesus our Lord."  
Romans 6:23 (NLT)

This “free gift” is the ultimate expression of God’s love.

“For God loved the world so much 
that he gave his one and only Son, 
so that everyone who believes in him 
will not perish but have eternal life.” 
John 3:16

Demonstrating the height and depth of God’s love, Jesus paid the ultimate price to give us the “free” gift of eternity.

Yet I fret about waiting 30 whole minutes for my food? 

 I'm frustrated about spending two whole hours doing something I didn’t dream up and put in my schedule?

Oh Lord, take this stony, stubborn heart and replace it with one that's tender and responsive!


A Woman Whose Love Protects

"Love is patient, 
love is kind. 
It does not envy, 
it does not boast, 
it is not proud."
1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)


I want to be a conduit of God’s love. 

But I am such a naturally impatient Choleric! 

(So's my firstborn: Annemarie’s first emotion word, when she was less than two years old was, “I fuss-tae-ted!”)

During the first 12 days of this challenge, we took to heart twelve verses that remind us of who we are in Christ. 

And yes, it is powerful to counter the enemy’s attacks by speaking God’s truth: “I am LOVED!  I am CHOSEN!  I am COMPLETE!”

But we can’t stop there. 

When I feel impatience rising,  I must flip these verses around.

I must tell myself that the person toward whom I’m feeling frustration is

  • LOVED by God   (Ephesians 1:4)
  • CHOSEN by God  (John 15:16)
  • COMPLETE in Christ  (Colossians 2:10)
  • made PURE by God  (1 Corinthians 1:30)
  • declared RIGHTEOUS by God  (Romans 3:24)
  • FORGIVEN by God  (Ephesians 1:7)
  • FREE by the power of the life-giving Spirit  (Romans 8:1-2)
  • VICTORIOUS through Christ  (Romans 8:37)
  • a NEW person with a NEW life  (2 Corinthians 5:17)
  • CONFIDENT in God’s presence  (Ephesians 3:12)
  • God’s MASTERPIECE  (Ephesians 2:10)
  • INSEPARABLE from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus  (Romans 8:39)

And if I’m to have any hope of doing this in the high-pressure atmosphere of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I must start practicing. 

Replacing my impatient “baditude” with God’s word and gratude. 

Practicing now, for patience then.


Your Turn:

  • What kind of people or behaviors trigger your impatience?
  • What physical signals tell you that your impatience is rising?  (I can actually feel it in the bridge of my nose!)
  • Anything else on your heart!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Day 15: PATIENT


Our Give-Away for Today!



Men are Like Waffles, Women are Like Spaghetti: 
Understanding and Delighting in Your Differences


Have you ever thought, "I know my spouse is different than me but what am I supposed to do with the differences?" This is the book that will forever change the way you relate to the one you love. Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti will help you:
  • Lower the stress in your home
  • Turn frustration with your spouse into fascination
  • Create an environment of mutual support and achievement.
  • Stop conflict before it starts.
  • Lighten the mood in your home.
  • Laugh together more often.
  • Enjoy sex more often with your spouse.
  • Use forgiveness to make your relationship easier.

The Farrels explain why a man is like a waffle (each element of his life is in a separate box) and a woman is like spaghetti (everything in her life touches everything else). A unique and fun look at the different ways men and women regard life a terrific tool for not only marriage, but also for a reader's relationships at work, at home, at church, and with friends.



Pam Farrel is an international speaker, author of over 30 books including best selling Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti, 10 Best Decisions a Woman Can Make, 10 Best Decisions a Couple Can Make, Red Hot Monogamy,  10 Best Decisions a Parent Can Make, Devotions for Women on the Go, LOL with God, Got Teens?, and 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband.

Pam is the Co-Director of Love-Wise (www.Love-Wise.com) and Founder of Seasoned Sisters (www.seasonedsisters.com). Connect with Pam on Facebook at Pam Farrel and Bill and Pam Farrel!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“I’m gonna have to leave tomorrow's blog post blank,” I told Daniel.

“Why?” he asked.
“Day 15’s word is patient!”
“Oh.”

Two Things I Know + a Story
I know two things about being … er… becoming patient.
And I have a story that illustrates both.
#1 Thing I Know About Becoming Patient
I need to Slow Down. 
Leave earlier. Attempt less. Handle dishes carefully. Avoid furniture corners.
Much of my impatience is caused by being in such a hurry with a such a long checklist!
And my hurry causes speeding tickets...which cost precious money (which took time to earn.) 
My hurry causes broken glass...which takes time to clean up. 
My hurry causes bruises...which hurt and take time to heal. 
My Choleric friends and I are trying to live by a new mantra:  “We are ruthlessly eliminating hurry from our lives!”
Trying.
(Oh, so trying!)
#2 Thing I Know About Becoming Patient
I need to Be Still. 
As in “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10a)
As in: First be still, so that you can know that I am God. 
God never withholds himself from me. 
But when I am am still, I am open to knowing him. 
(And vice versa.)
The Story


Eight years ago, Daniel and I celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary by running off to a lovely B&B in Big Bear Lake, California. 

After feasting on waffles and omlettes the first morning, we sat together on the porch swing. 
Well, physically we were together.
My mind was elsewhere. In Choleric over-drive, it was making a mental list of everything we could accomplish: 
We're up early (I hate sleeping in -- such a waste of time!) so we have a good head start on the day. If we get a move on, we can get to the local zoo when it opens, hit the shops by 11:00 AM, have lunch just after noon, check out the nature center in the early afternoon, rent canoes around 3:00 PM, and then . . . 
My mental hamster wheel screeched to a halt as Daniel pulled me close in an affectionate hug. Heaving a sigh of utter contentment, he said, "It's so peaceful and quiet. I'd be perfectly happy just sitting right here all day long."
I froze in fear. No, make that terror. 
"Peaceful" and "quiet" were bad enough. 
But far more ominous were those three little words: 
"all. day. long." 
After a decade-and-a-half of matrimony, I knew Daniel meant what he'd said. 
And I didn't have to check my watch or do math on a napkin to realize that I'd just been sentenced to nine hours of "sitting right here." 
I wonder if I can leave him here all day while I go... did cross my mind. (I discarded the idea when I thought of his friends ribbing him, "So you took the little woman to a fancy B&B, and she left you to go shopping?") 
I considered arguing for my plan, but he looked, well, so peaceful and so happy, I didn't have the heart. I resigned myself to my fate: a day of doing absolutely nothing.
So we sat, in the peace and quiet of the forest. 
As my I-hate-it-when-my-plans-get-changed resentment ebbed, I noticed things I'd missed earlier: the blue sky, the piney air, the flitting birds. 
I felt my brain dial down a few notches, my shoulder tension relax a bit, my drive to "do something, anything!" dissipate. 
We really did "sit right here" all day. 
And I lived to tell the tale! (When Daniel fell asleep, I did tip-toe back to our room for a book...) 
At the end of the day, I was more peaceful and quiet than I'd been in months. I felt like I'd finally been able to exhale after holding my breath for a very long time.
Slow Down + Be Still = Becoming Patient
(Can't see image? Click here to download 1 Cor. 13:4!)
Do you have the PURSE-onality gifts of Slowing Down and Being Still? 
If so, who are you blessing with these invaluable gifts?
If not, who is blessing you by sharing these much-needed gifts? 
Try This Today:  For 5 minutes, Slow Down and Be Still. No doing. Just being in His presence, open to knowing He is God.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To enter today’s drawing, leave a comment 
  • responding to today’s blog, and/or
  • sharing your Day #1-15 experience of replacing “baditude” with God’s word and gratitude, and/or
  • about anything else on your heart!
Drawing winners 6-10 will be announced soon!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(Catch up on any "Warm-Up Week" Blog Posts!)







Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)