Patience, May 18, 2017 Daily Reflection

Patience – the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without becoming angry or upset. Do you know anyone who is patient? Are you patient?

I grew up with a very patient Dad. When I was learning to drive (in a neighborhood with little to no traffic) I found myself driving on the wrong side of the road. He didn’t tell me or say a word. Instead when a car started coming towards me from a distance, I asked my dad if I was on the wrong side of the road. He said, “yes you are.” I asked if he was going to tell me that at some point. He answered, “I thought you would figure it out soon enough.” To me that is patience. He was able to wait it out and not be shaken, angered, or upset. He says, “When you get to a traffic light take the time to say a prayer.” Patience is a virtue, a good habit, that will benefit a person throughout their entire life. If we can have patience we can endure. If we can practice patience and faith, through God we can endure anything and everything.

God gives us the opportunity to practice our patience in lots of places in our lives, at work, with people who drive us crazy. At the store, in long check out lanes. In our cars in traffic and with our family and friends. Today, find an opportunity when you would usually lose your compsure and instead say a prayer for a calm heart, sensible outlook, and the ability to take a breath and practice patience.