Limitless patience

It's not even 9am and my patience is being tried.  Not intentionally, my middle child, Nadia, has been falling apart after various unconnected events this morning.  I don't remember the first incident, but when she dropped her spoon onto the floor and responded by bawling unreasonably for the fourth time, my response was to look at the clock and see if it wasn't too early to put her down for a nap.  Errr.  8:45.  Too early.

And then I get to thinking, this is a bit early for me to get frustrated.  She's almost 3 and it's not even 9 in the morning and I am getting irritated that she is sad because, for some reason, dropping her spoon was tragic to her.  Oh, boy.  What would God say to that?

First of all, I should be appreciative of the fact that my children are all getting along, sharing the toys, not running each other over in their active play, not whining to me about their preferences in the background music, and so on.  All these facts truly add up to a great morning!  So, why am I being impatient?

If I think a little deeper on this, it is painfully real to me how much patience God has.  He forgives and forgives and forgives, and when we stumble again, He picks us up without a sigh of frustration (an all-too-frequent response of mine that, of late, has been reflected in my oldest child's play).  When He reminds us for what must seem the zillionth time about how to love (whether through Scripture, example, prayerful revelation, and so on) and then sees us, for that zillionth and one time, again not follow His direction, He could very reasonably give up.  It's sad to think of the number of times that I am ready to throw in the towel and send my kids to bed for a little peace!  What patience He has!

So, I think maybe - just maybe - I was able to hear Him this morning.  When my patience is being tried, I need to look to my Heavenly Father.  If He can forgive me endlessly, love me unconditionally, bear with my faults and continued sinfulness time after time, and then, on top of it all, He showers me with blessings... well, I had better rethink my attitude.  I'm only parent to three children - He's Father to all!

So as of midmorning today, I vow to have patience.  Patience with my kids, my self, my spouse, the media, our plastic-eating cat, my clothes dryer, all that!  With all the patience God has for us, it's the least we can do to pass a little of that on.