Tag Archive for: patience

Lingering

It started last Saturday with a tickle in my throat.
By Sunday morning, speaking in Hengelo, I had turned into an excellent bass.
By Monday, I was in bed for a whole day to get some rest.
Then all week long, despite my best efforts, to get rid of this sore throat, it has lingered.
My best friends have been an array of products and remedies including: Hot water with honey, oranges, fresh orange juice, lots of water, Strepsils, tissues, Vicks Menthol Rub, an inhaler, multivitamins, paracetamol, ibuprofen and finally, as much rest as I can get!
And thank you too for all the tips!
Sadly, yesterday, we had to postpone a visit from some good friends. I still wasnโ€™t right.
Coughing and spluttering, have lingered with me all week.
๐‹๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ : โ€œlasting for a long time or to be slow in parting or slow to act.โ€
This sore throat is lingering, like aโ€ฆ lingering thing!
Some things seem to linger.
Do you find yourself lingering at times, in places, with friends or even online?
It fascinates me when our missionaries are in any gathering together, they love to linger!
They’re friends after all, and they canโ€™t get enough of lingering.
The toughest part is to encourage them to depart and return to their areas.
Yet, who has time to linger in this busy frantic world we live in?
Do you fit lingering into your daily schedule?
I know that something really special can happen in our relationship with Jesus Christ when we value lingering in His presence.
Every morning before you plunge yourself into the activities of your day, take time to linger with Him.
Psalms 27:14 reads โ€œWait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait I say on the Lord.โ€
In spending more time in prayer, Iโ€™m rediscovering the power of lingering.
Prayer is personal, its about communing, thanking, asking, listening, waiting and now Iโ€™d add lingering.
Jesus Christ always welcomes those who linger.
And those who linger with Jesus Christ, find that He lingers with them.
If you are in any doubt, simply ask our missionaries โ€“ they love to linger!

The Flu…

I donโ€™t like being sick.
Iโ€™ve spent the last 24 hours in bed dealing with a bad cold or maybe itโ€™s the flu?
Iโ€™m not too certain what virus I currently have, Iโ€™m sure it probably doesnโ€™t really matter, although the test tells me its not covid.
This morning, the last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed and get dressed.
Headache, fever, runny nose, sore throat, coughing fits, muscle ache, generally lethargic and so forth.
I guess Iโ€™m just feeling sorry for myself.
Iโ€™ve gone through a box of tissues, the kind with extra balsam that are supposed to be gentle on your nose.
Paracetamol and ibuprofen have taken the edge off the fever and helped to deal with the symptoms Iโ€™m experiencing.
I take all the help I can get, to get healthy again.
Why does it take so long to get over the flu?
Iโ€™m an impatient patient!
In fact, Iโ€™m a terrible patient.
Monic has been in the bedroom a few times to see how Iโ€™m doing, one thing I know for sure, Iโ€™m a little bit grumpy!
Everything is more difficult when Iโ€™m ill.
Perhaps I should see this as an opportunity for a break from my busy schedule.
Although taking time out is a good thing, Iโ€™m not thrilled about staying in my bed.
Iโ€™ve written my journal.
Dealt with several emails.
Booked hotel rooms.
Read a book.
Watched a movie.
Got caught up on social media.
Slept.
Drank lots of water.
Two hot cups of water with honey were actually quite nice.
Ultimately, my body is saying “Hey listen, it would be really great if you would just take a rest.”
Roll on the next 24 hours!
How do you deal with being sick? Any suggestions?

Good things take time

Everything important in life takes time.
This week one of our missionaries Libby Wilcox, shared a thought with me โ€“ โ€œ๐’Š๐’• ๐’•๐’‚๐’Œ๐’†๐’” ๐’•๐’Š๐’Ž๐’†.โ€
It takes time โ€“ to learn a new language.
It takes time โ€“ to build new relationships.
It takes time โ€“ to listen.
It takes time โ€“ to talk.
It takes time โ€“ to graduate.
It takes time โ€“ to form a new habit.
It takes time โ€“ for a beautiful garden to blossom.
It takes time โ€“ to heal.
It takes time โ€“ to pray.
It takes time โ€“ to study the scriptures.
It takes time โ€“ to come to know Jesus Christ.
It takes time โ€“ to focus on things that matter most.
It’s taken time, precisely 36 days of the new year, to arrive at today.
Each of those days, Monic and I have tried harder to slow down and consider those things that matter most.
Talking, listening, encouraging, and sharing.
These things cannot be rushed, sometimes we fail.
They happen when we do things together, walk, travel, eat dinner, and by turning off any media so that we can focus on one another.
I invite you to be patient… meaning to actively wait and endure.
Take time to focus more on consistent and steady improvements in the way you work and in the way you live.
Slow and steady does win the race.
Remember Aesopโ€™s fable of the Hare and the Tortoise.
The moral of the story is that you can be more successful by doing things slowly and steadily, by taking time, than by acting quickly and carelessly.
The race is not always to the swift.
What good things are you pursuing that take time?

To the Rescue

๐Œ๐ž๐ž๐ญ ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฑ…
He is an energetic 2-year-old Jack Russell Terrier that belongs to my Dutch in laws โ€“ Simone & Guus.
Every now and again, I get to spend some time with Dex.
Yesterday was one of those days. ๐Ÿ™‚
Gleefully, we went on a little walk together.
After a few minutes on our walk, although I wanted to go in one direction, it was clear he wanted to go in another!
I relented, and off we went the way he wanted to go.
It turned out to be one of his favourite little fenced parks, dedicated to dogs, so that they can run freely.
Ball and thrower in hand, we commenced our afternoon of activity.
I was happy throwing, and he was very happy chasing.
Enthusiastically, this activity continued for around half an hour.
Then the fun really began!
Putting the ball and thrower away, it was time to depart for home.
He knew exactly what was happening, and certainly did not want to return home.
Off he raced, to hide in the woods!
For the next 45 minutes I tried every single trick in the book to entice him on to his lead.
Little treats, throwing the ball again, ignoring him, patiently trying to corner him near the fence, following him into the woods, then back to laying a trail of treats on the groundโ€ฆ.
The Result โ€“ Nothing! ๐™๐„๐‘๐Ž success!
My patience was wearing very thin!
โ€œTime to call Simoneโ€ I thoughtโ€ฆ
โ€œ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ!โ€ I declared.
She smiled and laughed.
10 minutes later, as Simone and Monic arrived in the park together, Dex ran to Simone!ย  Job done!
Moral of the story โ€“ sometimes you just have to admit defeat, call for help, have a little laugh and wait on others to come to the rescue!
Have you rescued anyone recently?

Learning Patience

Almost daily, I pass this traffic light as I set forth on any journey out of Leidschendam.
More often than not (it seems to me) it is red, just like you see above.
Recently, I had an experience, that Iโ€™m sure many may be able to relate too.
For those of you who know me well, I have a propensity to be prompt!
Early one morning last week, as we were setting off just a little late for interviews in Rotterdam, we got halfway towards this light and then realised that weโ€™d forgotten something in the house. A quick turnaround, and then we were back on our way.
To get to the motorway, there are four sets of traffic lights that we encounter.
The first one above, is a bit of a bottleneck, as it leads to a narrow bridge where only one vehicle can cross at a time, hence the set of traffic lights at either side. That morning, it was at red. After a few minutes of patiently waiting, we crossed the bridge
100 metres further, is traffic light number 2, at a T-Junction. Again, it was at red. We waited once again for a couple of minutes before it turned green.
Turning right, we travelled another 200 metres and approached traffic light number 3. What a surprise, yepโ€ฆred again. It was another minute or two before it turned green.
Turning left, I approached the final set of traffic lights at a major intersection with lights galore. My light was of course red โ€“ it had to be! By this time, Iโ€™m feverishly watching the lights to see when it is going to be our turn to move. 2 minutes felt like forever.
Four red in a rowโ€ฆ. โ˜น
One interesting fact, that morning, we were the first car (in a line of cars) at every light, meaning that on every occasion we approached the traffic lights that morning, they had just turned red!

The lesson! ๐Ÿ˜Š

I think I have finally (I hope) learned that it is not the traffic โ€“ it is me!
Over the years I understand that it is not what happens in your day that makes you mad, itโ€™s who you are and how you handle what happens in your day that makes the difference.
Patience means actively waiting and enduring trials well.
Delays help me with one great lesson – ๐๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ž!
The Apostle Paul gave the purpose of patience in his epistle to the Saints in Rome, in Romans 5:3-4 we read; โ€œWe glory in tribulations โ€ฆ knowing that tribulation worketh patience. And patience, experience; and experience, hope.โ€
I believe that being patient is a divine attribute and for many of us it may take many years to develop fully.
We should learn to be patient with ourselves.
In what area of your life do you struggle to be patient?

Signs of Progress

How do you measure progress?
After 9 weeks of immersion in the culture of Belgium and the Netherlands, something significant, yet very subtle happened in my head this week.
For several weeks, I hear the Dutch language and then translate what I hear into English.
In order to respond, I then translate my English thinking into Dutch.
This week though, things started to change – just a little.
I am beginning to think in Dutch… ๐Ÿ™‚
What a difference it makes!
The result?
I am even struggling to recall some simple English words and replacing them with Dutch ones!
The transition is starting to happen!
Don’t get me wrong, I have still lots of learning, but genuinely feel after some tough weeks, that I am making some progress.
So how do you measure progress?
…One day at a time! And then recognising the change.
When I’m dreaming in Dutch – that will be a real sign!
And for our new missionary arrivals next week, remember to speak it every day – that is so crucial. There is hope!!

Don’t Give Up!

Tuesday morning my brain was completely fried due to the complexity of a piece of virtualย #facilitation.

“My, oh my, this is tortuous!” I thought.

Then came feelings of self doubt, fear, anxiety and a resignation that I simply couldn’t get my head around what was expected. I became a little grumpy….(well maybe a big bit!)

Consulting with a few other virtual facilitators, they felt exactly the same…(even more scary, and now even more grumpy too!)

I persevered.
Then I persevered a little more.
And still even more.

With a little more effort, a little moreย #patience, a little moreย #persistenceย and some practice & experimentation thrown in too for good measure, eventually…it started to make a little more sense.

By Wednesday afternoon, I’d cracked it! I was overcome with a huge sense of relief and started dancing around the living room.

This morning, as I get back online for the last rounds of the virtual facilitation, I am actually looking forward (and just a little excited too) about the day ahead. And I’ll have a bit of fun too!

Being taken of your comfort zone into your stretch zone, can be very painful at times – I can testify of that! Yet, strangely it also brings a great sense of accomplishment, once you achieve the goal.

Have you been stretched recently?

Developing Patience

“The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time” – Abraham Lincoln.

Reflecting this morning on the last 6 months since lockdown on March 23rd, I recalled a scripture from the New Testament, from Romans 5:3, when the Apostle Paul taught “We glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience.”

I find that statement both fascinating and enlightening.

Tribulations ๐’…๐’†๐’Ž๐’‚๐’๐’… patience, but at the same time they also help us to ๐’…๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’๐’๐’‘ patience.

These last 6 months have been filled with a variety of tribulations – “distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution. A trying experience.”

Sad to say, but the next few months will be exactly the same, if not more challenging in some ways. Yet, I believe as we patiently endure these difficulties with forbearance and fortitude, developing within each of us, if we allow it, will be the strength and resilience to face whatever comes.

The daily tests of endurance that each of us are currently facing require patience.

Our struggles will continue, one day, one step at a time. But these times for certain, will come to pass.

How can you be more patient today?

Annoying!

“There’s something not right with that tyre dad, I’ve had to blow it up again” said my son Kyle.

Both my son and daughter had mentioned this fact to me several times over the last few weeks. It was a little thing really, but it was starting to bug all of us.

So on Saturday I took their car into the garage and had them look at the back tyre. After a couple of minutes, he’d found a nail in the tyre and subsequently off he went to fix the puncture. Ten minutes later – the job was done and my wallet was ยฃ20 lighter.

The tyre had become a bit of an annoyance, due to the infrequent, unpredictability and intermittent nature of the flat tyre. Finally, it had been going on for quite a few weeks, plus Kyle had been into the garage before and they’d found nothing – even more annoying!

Annoyance – a cause of irritation or vexation; a nuisance.

What little things do you find annoying? What pushes your buttons?

Some top tips to deal with those little irritants!

– Slow down, breathe – is it worth getting upset about?
– Consider your perspective, the momentary issue will pass.
– Have fun, laugh at yourself, don’t take it too seriously.
– Ask yourself how important the matter really is.
– Ask yourself is their something I can do to make it better?

Learning in Lockdown

The first 50 days (and counting) in lockdown.ย Here is what I learned.

I have some good habits and routines already in place.ย Iโ€™m an early riser, I study, meditate, plan my day, set my goals and take regular exercise.ย Work has changed from mostly face to face, to all virtual.ย So, what have I been learning?

Waiting is hard – I still have much more to learn about patience!

These last 50 days I have learned that patience is far more than simply waiting for something to happen.ย Rather, patience requires that I actively work towards a worthwhile goal by focusing on those things I can control and choose not to get discouraged when results donโ€™t appear as quickly as Iโ€™d hoped for. ย It also requires that I have had to put on hold some of the biggest desires of my heart for a little while longer by making alternative plans. (Charity Skydive โ€“ on hold โ˜น)

Patience means actively waiting and enduring really well.

In these challenging times I have learned not to be dismayed or to give up too easily, when I know that Iโ€™m doing the best I can. ย I am also beginning to understand that I should be satisfied with my progress even though it may come very, very slowly at times.

In what area of your life do you struggle to be patient?

What have you learned during lockdown?