“If I have not the patience of my Saviour with the souls who grow slowly;
if I know little of travail (a sharp and painful thing) till Christ be fully formed in them,
then I know nothing of Calvary’s love.”
~ Amy Carmichael
“He’s out of bed again,” I said, eyeing my husband, eyebrows raised and a look of surprise on my face.
It was night time. The sun had long set and evening sky was lit up with the beautiful moon. Everyone in our house was asleep – except for my husband and I – although we were fighting hard the sleepiness that was falling upon us – and our three year old son.
Our little boy was upstairs. Awake.
Pattering about in the hallway in his red plaid pajamas.
Little feet, tiptoeing — not so quietly around. We could hear the click of the Dutch bedroom door. The squeak of the old hinges.
He was sneaking into his sisters’ bedroom and finding only darkness as they slept soundly after a fun, busy Sunday afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa’s.
“He can’t be up again!” my husband wearily said, as he rose from his blue wingbacked chair, which was closely positioned near a cozy fire in our parlour. He trudged back up the wooden staircase, his feet purposefully making louder sounds than normal, perhaps to frighten our wayward son back into his bed.
A few minutes later, my husband returned and resumed his cozy spot by the warm fire.
It has been a strange week. My little boy, three, has been testing his limits by not staying in bed during nap time and secretly plotting escape routes with his sister who shares the same quiet hour upstairs… this can be tiresome for a mother of many after a long day of home schooling and housework. Those afternoon quiet hours are precious to me – we all enjoy a quiet hour of reading and rest time. We cannot rest as well when we are up and down the stairs six or seven times in an hour, putting the little one back into his bed.
And so the training continues – apparently into the evening hours, as well.
I know it is just a season. I remember all too well the last little girl who was an escapee from nap time. Now she stays in her bed just fine and we never have to ask her to go “back to bed.”
Patience.
It’s something I’m still working on.
Patience is not the ability to wait.
Patience is to be calm no matter what happens,
constantly take action to turn it to positive growth opportunities,
and have faith to believe that it will all work out in the end while you are waiting.”
―
When strangers meet me and see the lineup of children following behind me – and then they discover we homeschool – they, automatically, cry out, “Oh, you MUST have more patience than me! I could never do it!”
That, however, is not the truth. I am a sinner. And I make mistakes and I am not always patient, sadly. Having a large family to raise only means I have more opportunities to work on fixing my own personal character flaws. Yes, I’m sure it might be easier to be patient and calm when you are home alone without anyone to upset your day. My days are filled with opportunities to rest in the Lord and wait patiently, praying for the fruits of the Spirit to be evident in my own life.
I am not naturally a quiet person. It takes great effort for me to remain calm. I am working diligently – and failing often – on my character, attempting, with God’s help, to put patience and quietness in my list of working character traits.
Today is a new day and I will begin it with prayer for patience and calmness of spirit. And I will thank the Lord for my children that bring me more humbly to the foot of the cross.
by Gigi
4 comments