I think Tom Petty might have had it right when he said that “the waiting is the hardest part”. At least for me it tends to be.

In today’s Faithful Friday, we’re discussing that word… patience.

Oh, that word! Patience. As a homeschooler, I hear that word an awful lot. It usually comes up in conversations about how great it is that I homeschool our children, but that I have to have an abundance of patience to do it. Actually, no. What I have is a calling to do it and an understanding of what our children need. It has nothing to do with patience. On some days, if you were able to take the temperature of my patience level, it wouldn’t even register.

Today, I was reminded about my need to have patience. It was in a discussion that had nothing to do with homeschooling, and I started to think about it.

What is it about being patient that I find so challenging?

And there it was. An Oprah a-ha moment! I am always on the go, and if I am not on the go physically, my mind is racing at 100 miles per second. Just ask my husband. He has all the patience in the world. In fact, when I just told him what I was writing, he said that his mind runs at 10mph, otherwise he burns out. I wouldn’t say 10, but it’s certainly not 100 miles per second! Knowing that I have this go-getter mentality, it makes sense that just sitting around waiting patiently would drive me insane.

But that’s the thing. As Rodin stated, “Patience is also a form of action.”

I couldn’t believe it when I came across that quote. It had never crossed my mind that to be patient requires me to actively do something.

Wait.

How did I miss that one? Patience doesn’t mean that I sit idly by while life goes on and I wait around twiddling my thumbs. Instead, it means that I am actively participating in life, while allowing whatever I am pursuing to either come to fruition or pass along. The process of being patient not only teaches me not to jump into things, but it also enables my heart, mind, and soul to be fully engaged. If able to trust the process, some of the angst I tend to feel all the time would be lessened. It also creates an opportunity for me to become more fully present with God and as a result, be better able to hear what He might be trying to tell me.

What are you waiting for today? What is one thing that creates that stirred up feeling inside of you? What makes you want to scream at the person who is telling you to be patient, “But I need to know NOW!”?

I would love for you to stop by my Facebook page and share with me where patience is a challenge in your life. In the meantime…