Parenting. Y’all.
It is not for the faint of heart.
Linking up with Five Minute Friday today, and the them
Let me explain:
I a tendency to be rather, uh, impatient. Like, just a tidge. Teensy bit.
Like, if I was gonna say… my impatience is one of the smaller states, it’s New Hampshire. It’s the New Hampshire of impatience.
Granted. New Hampshire is still about 10,000 square miles in size. Thank you, Wikipedia. So, there’s that.
Impatience is one of my issues. I’ll admit it. I am working on it, but it’s tough because working on myself takes AGES, and my gosh who has time for that? Ridiculous.
And here is the other thing:
Yes, I know. Thing is blurry and in a shepherd’s costume, but I didn’t want to take the time to look for a better picture. Because impatient. Anyhow. This is Red. And he… well… he is not interested in the passage of time. At all. Like, he stops and smells the roses in every nook and cranny of his life all the time every second whenever wherever and HOLY BIG BEN WHAT IS HIS PROBLEMMMMM.
Yes. I am time-shaming my sweet child. I know. This is not my finer moment. I don’t CARE because TIME. TIME IS OUT THERE JUST SMACKING US AROUND ALL THE, WELL, TIME AND IT’S REALLY HARD TO DEAL WITH THAT.
The red. He makes me deal with time. I have gritted-teeth conversations with time, and with Red on a daily basis. Daily.
A daily test.
It’s only a test. Tests are not to be feared. They are just events that make us stronger. I have to remind myself that, also, on a daily basis.
The test-taking is daily because God loves us enough to not let us alone. And I remind myself of that too, on a daily basis.
This is only a test. If it was a real emergency, we need pray. But, the best part is that we can pray, anyway, anytime, anywhere.
Prayer. Our automatic answer key.
Dana Bowman 
Or, perhaps…prayer is the EASY button, that makes all things go more smoothly.
I’m at the other end of the patience scale. As a Zen Buddhist, and trained as a long rifleman (‘sniper’, and I hate that word), patience is my stock in trade. I know how to wait forever in a cold third-world roadside ditch, just waiting and watching. (Recon is actually the long rifleman’s first duty.)
Drives my wife crazy, because she’s normal.
#2 at FMF this week.
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2016/10/your-dying-spouse-216-lethal-legacy-fmf.html
Prayer definitely is the best way to deal with any tests that we face. I also have a low level of patience and at least one of my children is a “stop and smell the roses” child. It definitely can be challenging.
I struggle with that same disease…impatience!!
I cant believe this is my first time clicking on your blog! I love how you wrote this. you are so real! I am favorite part was “Tests are not to be feared. They are just events that make us stronger.” Amen to that. I am your neighbor this week
You’re right. God’s grace covers us for where we are when we come to us but He love us too much to let us stay there. Thankfully we don’t have to go it alone. Peace.
Visiting from FMF#43.