Tag Archives: patience

Jan 28 2011

WHAT IF I GET IMPATIENT?

Janina's recitalConversation in the car:

Janina: Mom will I ever get famous? When will I get famous?

Mom: Yes you will! But I don’t know exactly when. Do you remember the timeline you made for your school project? God has His timeline for your life mapped out even before you were born.

Janina: What if I get impatient?

Don’t we all relate with her question? This was a good time for me to explain to Janina what it means to wait upon the Lord and not go ahead of His will.

I don’t like waiting. Whether it’s waiting in line, or waiting for my husband to pick me up, or waiting for an answer to a prayer. Left to our own, we will give up waiting. That’s why we need God’s strength as we wait. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength .Often times, we get tired of waiting and take matters into our hands. That’s when the trouble starts. When we can’t wait any longer and try to make things happen on our own. That’s when we find ourselves ending up with the second best, instead of God’s best.

Waiting is a part of lives. There will always be something we will wait for… a promotion, your own house, your life partner, healing, restoration of your marriage, and the list goes on and on. I believe God allows us to go through seasons of waiting so our dependence on Him will grow. But nevertheless, God assures us of His great plans for us and we just have to trust Him. When we wait on Him, He always makes the wait worth it!

Psalm 25:3 (New King James Version)
Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed

Nov 28 2010

WAITING PATIENTLY

Author: Unknown

There was a man who had four sons.
He wanted them to learn not to judge things too quickly.
So he sent them on a quest, one by one, to look at a pear tree.
The first son went in winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer,
and the youngest on in the fall.

When they had all gone and returned, he called them together to describe what
they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted.
Pear tree winter

The second son said it was covered with buds and full of promise.
pear tree spring

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so
sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever
seen.
pear tree summer

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with
fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
pear tree fall

The man then explained that they were all right, because they had each seen
only one season in the tree’s life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season.
That the essence of who they are, and the pleasure, joy and love that come
from that life, can only be measured at the end when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring,
the beauty of your summer, and the fulfillment of your fall.
Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don’t judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches, and better times are sure to come.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Sep 28 2010

PLAYGROUP PROBLEMS

Dear Jenn,

Could I ask you for a piece of advice? My daughter is already attending playgroup . I’m amazed at an early age that she learned a lot like eating independently, wearing her slippers properly, and a lot more things that an ordinary 2 year old cannot do yet. Today, her teacher spoke to me about my daughter beating her classmate. Honestly i don’t want to make excuses for my daughter though i told her teacher that she won’t hit anyone if she was not provoked but still I know that it’s wrong to hit or hurt someone. I was convicted of my actions. Because nowadays, I’ve been disciplining her too much. And sometimes because I have a lot on my plate, I really get impatient with her and shout at her. I can’t help but think that my own behavior has caused my daughter to be aggressive towards another. My husband told me to keep my daughter company first in the playgroup and if her behavior doesn’t improve, we will pull her out of playgroup first. Thank you very much!

From,
Mommy XX

Playgroup

Dear Mommy XX,

Playgroup is nice because it can bring out the best in our children. You saw how it brought out the best in your daughter… she learned to be independent and did all those great things a normal 2 yr old still couldn’t do. In the same breath, playgroup can also bring out the worst in them. When our kids are put in situations where they need to relate with other kids, their tendency to sin usually shows up. There will be situations that will push them to do what is wrong like grab toys, or push, or shout or hurt other kids. When your child does something wrong, DON’T OVER REACT. You don’t need to blow it up and feel so terrible about it because all kids make mistakes. Your child is not defined by one misbehavior. The important thing is you use the opportunity to teach her what is right and wrong. As your child gets older, you can start using opportunities like this one to teach her about man’s sinful nature and why we need Jesus to help us do the right thing.

As a mom too, there are times when i get so impatient with my kids. You don’t know how often that is. I have 4 remember? :D It is not always easy to discipline them the right way especially when we are so stressed. I’m glad my husband is here to partner with me too. When my kids misbehave, I also take time to evaluate my parenting because, you are right, the way we discipline them really has an effect on them. If God is exposing some things in your heart, then ask Him to help you make the necessary adjustments.  Apart from the grace of God, we really cannot do it the right way. Thank God He is always there to help us!

I hope this was helpful!

Jenn

Jul 26 2010

WAIT YOUR TURN

Years ago, when Paolo and I just had one child, we hosted an American family who had several kids. Over dinner conversations, one child would interrupt his dad and he would just raise a finger to that child and carry on with his conversation. After the dad finishes his conversation, that’s the only time he would give his attention to his child. I would always feel sorry for that child who, in my inexperienced mind, was ignored by his dad. Didn’t the dad have to drop his adult conversation to give attention to his own child?

Today, having 4 kids, I often find myself doing the same thing to my children. It is quite a challenge to carry on a decent conversation with my husband with 4 kids around who all constantly demand my attention. What I now realize is that American guest of ours was teaching their kids to wait their turn. Most children lack patience. When they want our attention, they want it right away. Our kids often interrupt us and when they do, we need to teach them to wait their turn. Interrupting also shows disrespect for the people who are conversing.

Whenever a child of ours interrupts, (or often it is 3 kids interrupting all at the same time) we tell them “I’m sorry I am in the middle of a conversation.” Or we give their arm a gentle squeeze to communicate to them that now’s not a good time but we are aware they want to tell us something. As soon as we are done, we make sure to give them our undivided attention.

If we are successful in this, our kids will develop the patience and self-control to wait their turn in other things as well like playing with a toy or using the computer. They will also learn to respect other’s needs and put them before their own.

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