I prefer the highway

As a photographer the one thing you learn early on is that to get 'the' shot, you need to show patience. As a parent... the first thing you learn early on is that you need to show patience... in fact, in any role you find yourself, you will probably be called upon to show patience. Father, Mother, Daughter, Son, Brother, Sister, Friend, Spouse, Boss, Employee... The list goes on.

The main problem with this... I SUCK AT PATIENCE! I mean, not just your everyday 'sucking'... I am talking about the kind of terrible that other people actually call out in you because it's THAT bad. I am the person who will go through the traffic jam on the 401 because I am too impatient to wait for stop lights... ?? Yes, I know how silly that sounds to the average ear!

My housemates in Austria used to tease me about it, telling me over and over how impatient I was, and I would usually agree. The problem was not that I was in denial but rather that I embraced it. If God made me impatient then he meant for me to impatient. I should be able to get what I want when I want it right? Why wait for 3 hours for the perfect shot? Why sit through stop lights when there is a highway close at hand? Why wait for online shopping when I can get the item in a store with a little driving? Why wait for a sale for that matter, I want it now! The problem... and I am learning that it's actually a bigger problem that I realized. Is that God doesn't want me to remain this way, he wants me to learn patience.

As I mentioned I have committed to read the Bible daily for at least a month. Guess what I heard... BE PATIENT... UGH. I know, this should be a beautiful thing, learning, growing, stretching... but have you ever stretched a stretchy material and seen the results of that poor toy/item.. not pretty. It looks painful. My question today, how the heck do you learn patience? I mean, I thought this whole thing with Josh had taught me alot about patience, I thought my new ability to wait for 6 months between appointments without going into cardiac arrest myself was a huge step forward. Now, however, I am learning that it was a baby step; a baby step that has taken almost 5 years to learn.  A drop in the bucket... again I say UGH. I don't know what I am being patient for. I don't know why the need to be patient needs to be so important (this is my 3 year old inner child coming out for a visit) but I thank God that He shows me patience while I learn about it.

Happy Friday guys and Happy Canada weekend!

L