Lord, Give Me Patience

8.03.2009

Yesterday while I was working on a decorating project in our bedroom, Adam became enthralled with the books in our bookcase. Which isn't at all surprising. The 4,872 toys and games he has are so boring and so yesterday.

He took a special liking to a book about parenting. I can't remember the title because 1) I have not read the book, though I've had it for years and 2) my short-term memory is so short I'd have to write myself a note about what I had for breakfast if I really cared to remember.

There was a sweet little drawing of a child at the beginning of each chapter and he was especially enthralled with Chapter 9 - Teach a Child Tolerance and He Will Learn Patience. The drawing showed a little boy watering a plant.

What's diss say, Mama? ... his sweet little finger gliding along the words in the chapter title.
It says, "Teach a Child Tolerance and He Will Learn Patience."

Patience? {wrinkles up nose} What's dat mean?
Well, for example when you ask me over and over and over again for some juice and I am right in the middle of something and can't get it for you, you sometimes get mad. When I ask you to wait I am asking you to have patience. It means to be respectful and not try to put yourself and what you want first all the time. That picture with the little boy watering a plant is there because a plant doesn't grow right away. It takes time - days and days and days for a plant to grow. And you have to be patient for it to grow from little to big.
And that was that. He moved on to more books and I moved on to the great lamp / furniture / artwork shuffle that resulted in zero decorating achievements for the afternoon. (But I did make the bed and dust. Amen.)

Later, when Adam and I sat down to read after his bath, he once again became enthralled with that book and turned right to the page with the little boy tending to his plant.

What's diss say again, Mama?
Teach a Child Tolerance and He Will Learn Patience. And do you remember what patience means?

Yes! It means dat if I keep askin' for juice all da time, you should be patient wiff me askin' over and over and work harder on tryin' to get it for me right away.


Well.
I do pray for patience a lot.

Thank the Lord I now have a cute little boy here on Earth to help me along.

26 comments:

Gracie Beth :

God did not grant me patience, so much so that my friends make fun of me for it!

Mrs Anne :

he's so darn cute!
patience is a virtue... right?

HMP :

LOL! I used to pray for patience, then a friend told me not to. God will give you more things to be patient about. Thus, teaching you patience. It made enough sense to me... now I pray for strength. Either way, I'm just not gonna win until they go to college! HA!

Domestic Designer :

He is so cute and smart too! :-) Have a great evening!

Becky K. :

I love that!
What a sweetheart!

Tonja :

I'd say he;s got it pretty well figured out!

FYI...He's only gonna get smarter from here on...

Mrs. Fabulous :

That was so darling!
Thanks for sharing!

Unknown :

So precious!

Unknown :

He is so adorable and smart! I can't wait to hear his reasoning skills when he's a teenager. He's such a charmer.

Anonymous :

I love hearing the "Adam spin" to life! He's blessed to have you as his Mom!!
- Cyndy

Susan :

Adorable. You cannot get inpatient with a child like that. Right?!!!!! Wrong.
Susan

Tina Leigh :

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

adrienne :

This is what I think God must think about me--Why do I have to keep telling her the same thing all the time? Patience--learned from the Father.

"Cookie" :

Love it!! Patience and children go hand in hand. I have to remind myself of this occasionally. It sure has heck isn't always easy!

Such a cutie!!

Anonymous :

Thanks for making me laugh out loud! That was great!

Miss Jody :

I even read this to my husband and really enjoyed it! :)

Your lil' boy sounds sooo precious!

melissa :

LOL, Adam is too cute ... oh the many, many years I have prayed (still am!) for patience with my 3 boys. But, I agree with monograms & mayhen - I pray more for strength. You really need it once the hs and college years come!

Angela Baylis :

What a great lesson for the 47 year-old mom to hear this morning! SO perfect!

Lennye :

We used to sing our boys a song, "Have patience, Have patience, don't be in such a hurry. When you get impatient you only start to worry. Remember, Remember that God is patient too and think about all the times when others have to wait on you." I can still see their sweet faces as we would sing this usually in a restaurant!

*carrie* :

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Check this out, too--you'll probably see people you know!

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Jody :

That's what it means in our house, too. Great story!

Jillian's Bella Rosa Antiques :

Funny! He learned what he needed to learn ...but in reverse. Bless his cute little heart.

The truth is ... I will probably need to pray for patience as Dear Bebe is getting older!

just ask beth :

Sweet boy!! Thanks for the GAP coupon went to the outlet and racked up!

Marketing Mama :

Hi, found you on Twitter because of your mention of food allergies (I have that as a saved search). My daughter also has food allergies. This is an adorable story, I just love it. Thank you for sharing! :)

Tracey :

that is so precious!!!

Anonymous :

J got all annoyed at me because she found a book in my nightstand that was titled: how to teach your children to listen or something like that=

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