It all comes back to patience
I love Twitter. It’s like having my own personal soapbox without all the baggage. And mostly it doesn’t matter if anyone responds or not. It’s a way to get things off my chest. Last night I tweeted:
“Pray for my adolescent son pushing limits & being a lttle too girl crazy..crazy being the operative word!”
Lord knows I need all the help I can get with this kid. He’s the middle of my 3….but the most impulsive and strong willed. Add those characteristics with adolescent teenager and you have the recipe for a daily roller coaster of emotions, bursting hormones, and general craziness.
Hubby an d I talked a little about what might need to happen. If necessary we will all go without computers and cell phones and television. But these are just tools that can be used for time wasting and frivolity as well as productivity and entertainment. We really need to work on the root causes of things that take our focus off of discipleship. We need to model living a balanced life so our children can see that there is a time and place for everything. There are no quick fixes are there?
Today God sent me a few good messages that helped me understand this.
“Without patience, we can’t truly learn from the lessons life throws at us; we’re unable to mature.”
—M.J. Ryan
You can’t rush life lessons. It takes time to learn. It takes some of us a longer time to learn lessons. I also took great comfort in more words of wisdom about patience:
“Since patience or tolerance comes from a certain ability to remain firm and steadfast, to not be overwhelmed by the adverse situations or conditions that one faces, one should not see tolerance or patience as a sign of weakness, but rather as a sign of strength coming from a deep ability to remain steadfast and firm.”
—The Dalai Lama
Patience is a good thing. And it is a sign of strength.
What great material for me to share with my son who is engaging in activities that he’s not ready for. He needs to learn patience, and I need to practice patience in allowing him time to learn.
Patience is a spiritual practice. While “hurry up and wait” is our secular mantra, people of faith learn to understand the term “God’s timing.” When we learn to practice patience, we will be blessed with God’s grace. Isn’t self-control a fruit of the spirit? It may not be one of our natural blessings, but with patience and prayer, it may become one of our many gifts from God.
I could argue that puberty doesn’t wait on anyone. But I’ll leave that in God’s hands.
Lord, help me with this child. I trust in you to give me the tools I need at the right time to keep fighting demons. I’ll work on patience to see me through this latter half of child-rearing. Lord, in your mercy…….
Quotes were found from e-mail newsletter “Your Daybook” from Faithstreams.com
