an $85 whale ...

last monday, i prayed for patience. i just started a month-long dogsitting stint that requires me to take the twins i nanny out at least once every day for the three days that i have them. that wouldn’t be so bad, except that my little charges have been more than a little challenging lately - both not sleeping well + one not eating well = fussy babies, not to mention putting them on different schedules. and then, i walked in monday to find we had added cereal to the mix! and so, i found myself praying for patience, and saying as much on my facebook status. i immediately had two people warn against praying for patience because that is an open invitation for God to put you to the test. i, however, knew how horrible the next month could be if i didn’t go ahead and pray for patience up front. if that brought on some extra tests, then at least i would have the patience to get me through them. good thing, too.

monday, the boys were crazy yet again, including an entire bowl of cereal getting thrown clear across the room ... seriously?! but i came into tuesday claiming that God’s mercies are new every day. i had a great track workout, and got a free pastry from starbucks, but then hit every stinkin’ red light on the way to work, which made me late ... nothing frustrates me more than stupid traffic and stupid drivers. however, the boys were perfect! even a call saying my memaw had to be rushed to the hospital didn’t bring me down. sure, i was worried, but i didn’t feel the need to freak out. i did manage to slice my finger open while making dinner, but was happy to get to bed at a decent time. unfortunately, i was wakened by the pouring rain ... tree houses with lots of windows are cool until you start dumping water on them in the middle of the night. then, the dog decided i needed to get up at 4am like i had the morning before to let her out ... but then didn’t want to go out because of the rain. honey, if you get me up at 4am, you better believe you’re gonna pee. she did, but then was restless, so between that and the rain, i didn’t get much of the remaining two hours of sleep i had hoped to. and then my nose, which bleeds when it’s dry, apparently didn’t get the memo that it rained half the night and started bleeding, always making the process of getting ready a bit more challenging.

still, despite all of that, wednesday with the boys began as a repeat of tuesday ... until i hit a crazy curb on my way to walk the dog and blew out my front tire ... ugh! still, as annoying as that was, i took it in stride and started contemplating that little fruit for which i had prayed. one could argue that while my week with the boys was going much more smoothly, God was putting me to the test in other ways. maybe so, but i couldn’t help but notice how God had answered my prayer for patience. even in the face of multiple annoyances, i had not lost my cool. my conclusion was that i would rather have adversity if it also means having the fruit of the spirit, than have a life without trouble if it is also without fruit. it is for this reason that i CAN “consider it pure joy ... whenever [i] face trials of many kinds, because [i] know that the testing of [my] faith develops perseverance. perseverance must finish its work so that [i] may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (james 3:2-4). it is for this reason that i do not hesitate to pray for patience.

the cool end (or next chapter) to the story came two days after i started writing this - the day i first actually posted to this blog. i had to take my car back to the shop to get the front end aligned because they had not had time to do it on wednesday when they replaced the wheel. it was definitely NOT something i had time for in my increasingly busy weekend, but i didn’t want to risk making a possible problem any worse. but, having to sit there and wait gave me time to finish my first entry that i had been putting off for so long. and God also freed up my evening, allowing me to finish up everything else i needed to. i won’t go so far as to say that God caused me to hit my tire on wednesday just so i would finish my first blog, but He has been known to bring storms and big hungry fish when His children don’t feel like listening. as crazy as it sounds, the feeling that comes from stepping into God’s will made that stupid batch of annoyances and $85 setback totally worth it!