Chardon United Methodist Church

Life at home with two children has changed my view on lots of things, and has opened my eyes to many new things that were not there when I had only one child.  It makes me wonder if God ever regretted making Eve.  With just the one child to worry about, he must have had it made.  Then the second came along and you know the rest of the story.  Anyway…I have this person who I used to live with who I affectionately refer to as Mom.  Many of you have or have had a similar such person in your life whose infinite wisdom seemed like the babbling nonsense of person past their prime who isn't in touch with today's society.  They would give this advice freely, and you would smile and pretend that you cared, and move along with your life only to find out years later that all of the advice was pretty accurate and could have saved you a considerable amount of grief over the years.

So, one of the many things that I did not realize came from my mother was my sarcastic nature.  But reflecting on her favorite phrase, it is hard to see how I could have missed it.  "Patience is a virtue my son" is what she would say, when I was in a hurry, when I wanted something and had to have it right now.  She also said it seriously in times when things in our life weren't going well and answers weren't coming anytime soon.  And as is customary with motherly wisdom, it doesn't make real sense until a later time in life, like when you have your second child.  This time however, it is not a "just wait it is coming" kind of patience, it is the "don't kill the three-year-old because she doesn't know any better and this is a difficult adjustment for her" kind of patience.  I find myself returning from a long day at work, tired, hungry and mentally through with kids not listening to me.  Then I walk into a house to an even more exhausted wife, who is comforting a crying baby, and a three year old who, rather than say hi and give daddy a hug, meets me at the door to ask me to put a hat on her head (because she is currently obsessed with hats) so that she can then immediately walk away only to return with the hat off five seconds later signaling for me to put it back on. 

Within the next few minutes I look out to see any number of reasons to flip out at the three year old.  Spilling milk, grabbing knives out a locked drawer, sticking her hands in places they shouldn't be and then trying to touch the newborn, or if the newborn is asleep, slamming any door that she can find and screaming immediately afterwards.  As I gear up to return the child to the womb, I hear my mother say…"patience is a virtue my son" and I frown at her mind tricks.  So I return to using positive patient attempts to help the older daughter deal with this big transition in her life (this usually involves a hat). 

Later in the evening when I have tucked in the child and now think that I really know what tired is, I look to my right and see my wife who hasn't sat down yet tonight and hasn't slept for more than two and half hours in a row in the last month, pacing the room to get the baby to sleep.  I have to wonder how she has the patience for me.  So I thank God for her and then thank him that He is God and that I am not.  Omnipotence aside, where does he get the patience to put up with us?  From Adam and Eve, to Cain and Abel, to Jonah, to Thomas, he has to sit up there and watch as we unwittingly ignore his foolproof plans for our lives, and blunder hopelessly through this existence.  Can you imagine what it must be like to be forced to watch us as we continue day after day to do what we want instead of what he wants for us?    He must be up their pulling his hair out as we use this free will that he gave us to bend and break every guideline that the Bible has.  Now multiply that times the fact that he isn't dealing with two children, but billions of his children.  Yet after we realize that our way was wrong and that we shouldn't have done whatever it was that we did, the first thing we do is go to Him and ask for forgiveness.  And without question, without an I told you so, he forgives and hopes that this time we will really stick to it.

   We like to say that our patience is running out, or that we have had it.  What if God had decided to let his patience run out or that he had finally had it.   That really puts me in my place quickly. The next time I think that I am at my wits end with the three-year-old, the baby, the boss, or the kids at work, I need to pause and think about what God deals with everyday of his existence.  We need to be more like our Lord and Savior in the way that we respond to the ones that we love.  Patience is a virtue.

This week I pray for all of us to have a calm mind and heart during times of frustration so that we can think of how incredibly patient God has been with us, and return just a little of that back to the people we love.  Rather than get mad at someone this week or have the nerve to complain that our "patience is running out", I pray that we take a deep breath and thank God for His patience with us so that we can honor him with our actions.  Have a great week and remember that God loves you and so do I.