Day 12: Patience

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I thought I would love the toddler years. The learning to do things independently, needing mom for a little less, exploring and practicing to get good at things mom previously did.

And my daughter has loved these years. She's great at trying new things and getting better each day with practice. But it's all I can do to let her try.

Because, you see, she does things SLOWLY. Very slowly. I guess we all do when we try new things or adjust to them, but I never thought about it until I had a 3 year old.

I thought I was doing great at letting her try things- until I watched my husband get her ready for church. Or more accurately, let her get ready for church. She dressed herself, brushed her own hair, buckled her seatbelt, and put her gloves on 3 different times to get the thumb in the right place.

I started to lose my patience with the gloves. I just wanted to do it for her because it was taking so long and I wanted it to be done faster. But that wasn't the worst part.

It took her 4 minutes to buckle her carseat. Lots of trial and error, and lots of attempting on the bottom buckle which sometimes even is sticky for me. I literally watched the clock.

I usually buckle her- to save time. And I was so convicted to watch my husband's patience with her and ability to wait and not intervene while she figured it out herself. It showed me what a hurry I'm always in and that I don't build enough margin into our schedule for her to do things like that. I want to be better at that.

After all, patience is one of the fruits of the spirit. So even though it's hard for me, I am capable of it with the Holy Spirit's help. He has planted that capacity in me. I'm going to work on patience today....

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