$0.49

I was hungry, in a hurry, agitated, and annoyed.  I was standing in line at Safeway needing to get back to work, just wanting to grab a quick bite to eat.  An "older" woman was the only thing that stood between me and my sandwich, and I quickly realized there might as well have been 100 people in line ahead of me.  She was arguing with the poor teenager making the sandwich who was clearly brand new.  What was she so up in arms about? $0.49!  She swore up and down someone told her that a sandwich and drink meal was $5.00, not $5.49 as stated on the menu board.  She demanded someone be paged, she flipped through the newspaper ad, and was relentless about this $0.49.  The teenage boy was calm, cool, collected.  I, on the other hand, stared down at my feet to avoid this lady seeing my clearly agitated face as she kept staring at me trying to get my sympathy.  Finally after about 10 minutes, the problem was solved and the lady did indeed save $0.49! 

Even though I was in a rush and not in the mood for a life lesson at the time, looking back I was taught a little lesson that day.  This teenage boy, who I am sure wanted nothing to do with making sandwiches at Safeway was the most patient and kind person to this extremely difficult customer.  Did he want to be nice...probably not.  Did he want to say..."lady, it's only $0.49"...probably! (I sure wanted to).  But he simply made her turkey and harvarti panini with a smile on his face and a customer service attitude.  He was PATIENT.

We all have things in our daily lives that teach us patience whether we want them to or not.  The long lines at Target, the car driving so slow in the fast lane who just will not pull over, the person who has been waiting in line at Wendy's for 5 minutes and still doesn't know what they want when it is their turn to order.  (ok...maybe these are just my pet peeves) :)  In the grand scheme of life...these things are so ridiculously petty.

What about the things that aren't so petty and still teach us patience.  Since losing our baby, I have been learning patience EVERY SINGLE DAY!  I struggle with it EVERY SINGLE DAY!  Why do I have to wait my turn?  Why can't I have my baby right now?  Why is so-and-so pregnant and I'm not? 
Probably nothing annoys me more than when I hear someone say "it just wasn't your time, be patient, your time will come".  What in the world do they know about being patient in this situation?!?! 

In all reality, I do need to be patient.  That is all I have.  Only God knows our future and He has a perfect timetable layed out for each of us.  It is not up to me when I will get pregnant next or if I will have a healthy pregnancy.  In fact I was reminded of this yet again when just last month Griff and I lost another pregnancy.  Talk about needing patience!  We waited 9 months since we lost our precious child and then to have the joy again and again have it stripped away.  Why do I need to learn so much patience?! ;)

I still do not have all the answers about why we are experiencing such difficulty with something that seems to come so easily to millions of people. But, everyday I do receive just a little bit of insight as to what I need to learn from this. Although it is a journey I never would have chosen to embark on, all things truly do work together for the glory of God, and this is my path to find His plan for my life.


But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE^ATP, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...(Galatians 5:22). Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and PATIENCE...(Colossians 1:11). Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and PATIENCE. (Colossians 3:12) **Emphasis mine**