Love is patient

"love is patient" can be translated into my life as "Laura needs to be patient". I am happy to truthfully admit that I am not a patient human being. Always wanting what is next, wanting things to hurry up, rushing towards the next year, month, day, minute.
As all parents will agree, children test the limits of your patience. I remember asking a million times "are we there yet", I also remember Dad patiently teaching me to drive, I made the same mistakes again and again, but he would patiently go over it again with me.

In the afternoons I help first graders with their homework. Immense amounts of patience is needed for this. Sometimes my patience is tested when I translate their homework instructions to "draw the meeting of the magic words", neither them nor I have any idea what the magic words are, or how we could draw them. But my patience is most needed when I work with Orianna. She is the sweetest, but she has learning difficulties and can be distracted by the smallest things. If I do not give her my full, undivided attention, she will not get anything done. Slowly but surely we go through all her work. She constantly is erasing, saying she can't do it, getting distracted, wanting water. But, at the end she is so happy, overwhelmed with the achievement that she did it!! And the best part is that she turns to me, throws get arms around me and says "me amo Tia". Which makes the testing of my patience worth every bit.

If my patience is tested with small things like this, I can imagine that God's patience for me is huge. As I always make the same mistakes, as I get distracted and as I forget things. But He is there, quietly but surely working with me as I do the work He has called me to do. Like a parent, He will go over it with me, twice, thrice, until I learn. And if I mess up again, He will not lose His cool, but He stays patient. He understands.

For God is love.
And "love is patient" - 1 Corinthians 13:4