Some days the lessons our Lord has to teach us are so hard. Lessons about loving and being joyful. Lessons about patience. Those are the lessons I am learning.
Patience is a long battle for me but with adoption it takes on a different significance. Things are moving very slowly with the pursuit of our second adoption. We have sent our application and updated our home study. The agency however would like to gain a better understanding of our son's situation before we proceed. The adoption laws in Ethiopia have been changed since we adopted Sabrina. Probably these changes were needed but they will most likely slow things down. So pray along with us that these issues are resolved quickly and that T doesn't have to wait any longer!
The lessons on joy and loving are harder. They reach into me and make me squirm. I don't feel unhappy, but certain people in my life say I come across that way. That saddens me so much. I want the joy that Christ offers me to be so obvious! And the impatience that plagues me causes me to come across as unloving. Yuck! So these are the things I will be pursuing...JOY, LOVE and PATIENCE. If you have any great places to start in the Word, let me know.
2 comments:
Hi Diane,
Re joy and love, I'm going to share something I realized at some point that may or may not be of help to you. It's something that has helped me to keep things in perspective. Take it for what it's worth.
When I am among others, as in, outside my immediate family circle, I can easily act and sound happy. But among those I love the most, I am often much more short tempered and brisk. It's not so much a sign of unhappiness or discontent, as much a manifestation of my trust. Because I am in a comfortable relationship of mutual trust that does not demand my "best behavior" I, unfortunately all too often don't exhibit my best behavior.
It is very helpful to me to realize that if I am treating a family member with a less courteous response than I'd give in a public setting, then I am, in fact, sinning. Sinning by betraying the trust of the family member's love. I take advantage of the fact that it will always be there even when I am "naughty." Once that sin is acknowledged, it can be put before God's throne and the balm of forgiveness received.
On a more practical angle, if something annoying happens I try to keep in mind how I would react to the same situation if a good friend was in the room. Or if I'm interrupted with something I feel is mundane but that is of utmost import to the other party. Or if I am just busy concentrating and can't pull my mind onto whatever a child or situation is demanding of me at the time. These are all things that try my patience and often elicit a brisk or short-tempered response.
But if I try to keep in the forefront of my mind what a "public" response would be and to direct the same courtesy toward my family members, it helps.
I also exhort the kids with this same measuring stick. When they are bickering, and as often happens, neither party thinks they've done anything wrong, I exhort them to ought to consider what their reaction would be if the other party was a good friend instead of a sibling.
YAY!!!! I can finally see your blog on my Google reader!!!! :)
So happy!!! :)
Marisa
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