Patience is...

They say patience is a virtue. Based on a Google search, there are over 56,300,000 results when you search for 'patience quotes'. Seriously...26 million results. Thanks Google...appreciate it.

I found a couple of the 56 million quotes and they are great quotes, but is that really what I want to see right now??

I usually have patience. Growing up I had patience for birthday's and Christmas (mom you can correct me later if I really didn't have patience). I had patience until the actual day. As an adult I don't have a problem waiting for Christmas Day or my birthday. What I loose patience with is when I have a gift to give someone. I spend time picking out the right gifts for those I love and I get so excited to see their faces when they open the gift, that I don't want to wait until the birthday or Christmas. Then I'm not patient.

My patience right now...is a little thin. See what happens with me around this time (November/December that is) is that I begin looking at the past year. I begin looking at my life so far and what I have/haven't accomplished. This time of year seems to make my patience disappear.

Now as you know, I am currently in my season of waiting for a spouse. When November begins, the snow starts and I know Christmas is just around the corner, I begin to look at the year as "well it's another Christmas and I'm alone". I know...sad right? It's what I do to myself. I get the blues and start to become impatient with waiting.

I start re-evaluating online dating (which I've done one to many times for my liking), wondering what ways I can meet guys, wondering who will get engaged this season and have it all over social media. As singles we dread this time of year to see which one of our friends is now engaged. How am I still alone.

But then I think about that last line again...and again. How am I still alone? But are we really? I will be spending Christmas with my family and friends, enjoying company and making memories. How is that alone? It's not...that's the ironic part. We spend time with those we love (not just at Christmas) and we can feel alone because we don't have the ring, the relationship status, etc. But how many times do we as Christians really realize we are not alone?

We have this amazing gift that was given to us long ago. We have a loving father that sees our weakness. He sees our struggles with understanding why it's not our time yet. He is there...always there. We are never alone and sometimes we forget that. I for sure do. I get so wrapped up in the fact that my finger is bare and I'm still 'Single' on Facebook to even realize that I'm not alone.

He will comfort us in our times of trial. He will comfort us when we are dismayed. He will comfort us when we feel alone. He is to be our refuge and our strength. Our rock in times of trouble. I let my patience get the best of me this week, and I'm sure it will happen a few more times before the year is over. We need to spend the time we use on frustrations and sadness into times of servitude. This time is when God wants to use us the most. He wants us to give our whole lives to Him unconditionally. It's the time we have to allow Him to use us for the kingdom and to be a vessel.

It won't be easy, but as our community we can encourage one another as sisters and brothers in Christ to bring each other up when we notice someone may be down, loosing patience or maybe just needs to talk. We need to stop associating our standing in life with our relationship status with others and ensure our relationship with the One is continuing to grow and flourish. I'd love to know how you work through your times of impatience, so leave a comment below and we can begin to encourage one another in Christ.

#patience #gracetobeloved #alone #singleness