It never hurts to go over some aspects of our lives that periodically need review. Patience, is one of those areas in which, along the twists and turns of life’s journey, I am forever being tested. We’ve been a household without a dog for about three years now. My oldest sister once explained to me, ‘Freedom is when the kids have left home and the dog dies.’ Our boys were in their teens when she revealed this to me, and the dog was quite young…I had no concept of what she was talking about. Now, 17 years later, kid-free for over a decade and dog-free for three years – ah yes, freedom! Then – wait a minute, what? My husband is talking about getting a dog?!?
‘Let’s just go look at these puppies I saw advertised,’ says he. ‘Dirty pool,’ says I. The person who can say no to a tiny, innocent, adorable puppy has no heart! So we are now owners of a 10 week old English Springer Spaniel and that’s where the patience comes in – with the puppy…and with my husband.
I could explode with ‘I told you so,’ or, ‘This was not my idea,’ at least a dozen times a day. With patience, however, I manage to hold my tongue and only burst out with either of those lines a mere few times a week.
And I’m discovering that I don’t need to nag about watching the puppy every single minute she’s in my husband’s care, because she taught him that lesson all by herself, the time she was taking a nap, so he thought he could take a nap…and woke up to discover that he really must watch her every second she’s in his care – or kennel her.
My husband is not a morning person. I am. Does that mean it is my job to look after this pup in the morning, in lieu of my run – which keeps me sane? A discussion about this (preferably the night before as opposed to 6:45 am, when I’m wanting to bound out the door) is necessary – with calm explanation of expectations, not angry accusing words spoken to a foggy headed and groggy spouse who is not-a-morning-person. (And I thought life would get dull when the children left home!)
So yes, this area in my life needs more than the occasional review, clearly, constant daily attention to it is required. Perhaps we all have areas in our lives where fine-tuning is needed? Just remember, God has a sense of humour, so don’t lose yours, because everything is tolerable, if you can make your spouse laugh.
