They Go Hand in Hand

     My husband always tells me that he once prayed for patience and God gave him me. He also tells me that I have much more patience than him. Lately however, I have noticed that I am not always the epitome of patience, especially toward others. For example, yesterday I had somewhere to be at 6:30 pm. On my way, I had a few minutes to spare, so Joshua, myself, and my brother rode to grab a quick bite at McDonald's. When we got there, we were pressed for him as it is, and had to wait in line behind two employees that were ordering their food and taking forever deciding what they want. My thoughts: We shouldn't have to wait behind the employees, and even so, what is taking them so long because they know what the menu has on it?! Then, after our order was finally placed by the rude girl behind the register, we got our food, minus my Frappe. Then the girl couldn't figure out how to make it work and asked for a manager, who was on the phone with a friend and taking her sweet time. I found myself being short & snappy, and somewhat rude.


Another example: I had to babysit today and I have to be there at 6:30 a.m., which means an early rise and shine at 5:30 a.m. this morning. Joshua, my husband, has to be at work at 5:30 a.m., so he set the alarm clock for 4:30 a.m. Usually, we either wake up together or I sleep in after he leaves. Now, I'm not a morning person and I hate being woke up before it's time for me to actually get up. Joshua has a hard time getting up when the alarm goes off, just like this morning. Now, if it was me, yeah, I would've hit the snooze a few times too just like he did. Instead of understanding his need for sleep (especially with him doing a manual job as a carpenter everyday), I huffed and puffed and got aggravated because the alarm was so loud and I couldn't go back to sleep. Yes, I was upset, but I should have tried to have a little more patience with him and handled it different. 


     I'm always reminding myself that patience and kindness go hand in hand with one another. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV)" Kindness is acting for the good of people regardless of what they do. For me to be the Christian wife, example, and witness that God calls me to be, I must practice patience and kindness toward others in my everyday life.