"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea." A Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Just this past week I was given that sweet opportunity to sit by the ocean, dip my toes in the water, and watch as my troubles floated away with the tide. The visit to the seaside was made sweeter by the fact that it was at dusk, my favorite time of the day. The colors were softer, the air was milder, the sea birds were plentiful and called out evening greetings, and everyone seemed to have a smile on their face. It was easy to relax, and hard to be anxious in a setting such as that.
I love the above snippet from Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Patience. That elusive trait that we all long for in ourselves and others, yet when life tries to cultivate it within us through circumstances and people, we immediately recoil and declare we don't want the lesson, thank you very much. At least that is my experience. I have had several life experiences that were seemingly contrived to teach me this patience nonsense and I was not happy with the process at all. I am not a very good student.
I remember the loss of a friend a long time ago. I always wanted that friendship back, always needed that particular face and voice back in my life. Of course, somewhere along the way, I must have prayed for the patience to endure until the end, because it took a lot of years for that to happen. Even though it was not a constant state of anxiousness, just a nagging thought and prayer at the end of each day, those were not easy years of waiting. Thankfully today, I do have that person back in my life. The renewed friendship is in itself a reward worthy of all the painful moments in the past. But did I learn patience through all of it...I doubt it.
I am the wife of a man who is the complete opposite of me. This, I believe, is God's ultimate teaching tool in what appears to be my lifetime struggle to cultivate patience. Marriage is full of examples and opportunities to hone my patience tools...unfortunately for both of us, even after seventeen years, I still struggle with the virtue. I want him to understand me...NOW, not later. I want him to do things my way, NOW, not when he gets around to it. As you can see, life with me can be just a ball of laughter and fun. Have I learned patience through being married? Not quite yet.
All my life I had wanted to be a mom. It seemed beyond my grasp and a series of life circumstances set me on a thirteen year course to make that dream a reality. I believe I said time and time again during that wait that the people who were praying for my patience needed to stop it, and stop it immediately! My husband and I learned many lessons during this time in our life. We developed faith muscles galore and the reward of our precious daughter through the miracle of adoption opened our world up in ways too numerous to list. But patience, I don't know if I really learned it through all of this either.
I want to say that the above examples and the many others I could recite from my life have taught me that elusive virtue. I want to say it, but I am sure the comment section would be filled with notes from the people in my life who know that is not true. I am still impatient. I hate waiting on anything. Commericals during my favorite television shows are too long, I drum my fingers on the counter waiting on the microwave to bing, I buy bananas almost overly ripe because the thought of having to wait on them to ripen throws me over the edge and put me in a line of construction traffic and I throw a hissy fit every time. I want what I want, when I want it. I am a passionate person, and I am passionate about not waiting!
Although I haven't yet learned the truth of patience from my life or the time I have spent sitting by the sea, I have learned how to be calm and have faith, even of a mustard seed, in the face of life's storms. I have lived long enough and loved long enough to realize that circumstances take time to work themselves out, people need time to come around to the truth, and yes, eventually the guy holding the STOP sign in the line of construction traffic will flip it over to SLOW and I can get to my destination. I guess I am learning to be content with what I have, however impatiently I have to wait until what I want comes along.
I'm a work in progress, how about you?
Living Happily In the Moment!
Bev
Just this past week I was given that sweet opportunity to sit by the ocean, dip my toes in the water, and watch as my troubles floated away with the tide. The visit to the seaside was made sweeter by the fact that it was at dusk, my favorite time of the day. The colors were softer, the air was milder, the sea birds were plentiful and called out evening greetings, and everyone seemed to have a smile on their face. It was easy to relax, and hard to be anxious in a setting such as that.
I love the above snippet from Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Patience. That elusive trait that we all long for in ourselves and others, yet when life tries to cultivate it within us through circumstances and people, we immediately recoil and declare we don't want the lesson, thank you very much. At least that is my experience. I have had several life experiences that were seemingly contrived to teach me this patience nonsense and I was not happy with the process at all. I am not a very good student.
I remember the loss of a friend a long time ago. I always wanted that friendship back, always needed that particular face and voice back in my life. Of course, somewhere along the way, I must have prayed for the patience to endure until the end, because it took a lot of years for that to happen. Even though it was not a constant state of anxiousness, just a nagging thought and prayer at the end of each day, those were not easy years of waiting. Thankfully today, I do have that person back in my life. The renewed friendship is in itself a reward worthy of all the painful moments in the past. But did I learn patience through all of it...I doubt it.
I am the wife of a man who is the complete opposite of me. This, I believe, is God's ultimate teaching tool in what appears to be my lifetime struggle to cultivate patience. Marriage is full of examples and opportunities to hone my patience tools...unfortunately for both of us, even after seventeen years, I still struggle with the virtue. I want him to understand me...NOW, not later. I want him to do things my way, NOW, not when he gets around to it. As you can see, life with me can be just a ball of laughter and fun. Have I learned patience through being married? Not quite yet.
All my life I had wanted to be a mom. It seemed beyond my grasp and a series of life circumstances set me on a thirteen year course to make that dream a reality. I believe I said time and time again during that wait that the people who were praying for my patience needed to stop it, and stop it immediately! My husband and I learned many lessons during this time in our life. We developed faith muscles galore and the reward of our precious daughter through the miracle of adoption opened our world up in ways too numerous to list. But patience, I don't know if I really learned it through all of this either.
I want to say that the above examples and the many others I could recite from my life have taught me that elusive virtue. I want to say it, but I am sure the comment section would be filled with notes from the people in my life who know that is not true. I am still impatient. I hate waiting on anything. Commericals during my favorite television shows are too long, I drum my fingers on the counter waiting on the microwave to bing, I buy bananas almost overly ripe because the thought of having to wait on them to ripen throws me over the edge and put me in a line of construction traffic and I throw a hissy fit every time. I want what I want, when I want it. I am a passionate person, and I am passionate about not waiting!
Although I haven't yet learned the truth of patience from my life or the time I have spent sitting by the sea, I have learned how to be calm and have faith, even of a mustard seed, in the face of life's storms. I have lived long enough and loved long enough to realize that circumstances take time to work themselves out, people need time to come around to the truth, and yes, eventually the guy holding the STOP sign in the line of construction traffic will flip it over to SLOW and I can get to my destination. I guess I am learning to be content with what I have, however impatiently I have to wait until what I want comes along.
I'm a work in progress, how about you?
Living Happily In the Moment!
Bev
1 comment:
Amen, Sister!!!!
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