patience

well,
I had a hard time deciding what to post tonight. I was gonna put up something funny about joining the circus so I could have a quieter, more sane life. But Subvet had a minor wreck (accident) in our only car and it got me to thinking about patience. See, he was stopped at a red light behind a truck pulling a trailer, kinda similar to what the landscapers use. When, suddenly, the truck started backing up...right into our front end. The driver said that he was backing up so he could pull into a business drive there at the corner. Was he going to drive through so he could avoid 1 of the 2 red lights in this city? Who knows..but it's feasible. So many folks do. I'll admit, there are actually only 2 red lights in town...and I know how to avoid them both. Here in Texas there is a "10 mph over the limit" rule of thumb, and even nice restaurant food must be served quickly. How do we teach our children to have patience while we're weaving through stop and go traffic cussing under our breath? Or fuming because Farmer John is driving his tractor from one field to another on the bridge and doing 15 in a 55? Subvet was stationed in Italy for 2 years back in his canoe club days. He always talks about the different pace of life over there. Since he got back to the States one thing he's insisted on is that we don't go out to eat unless we have a minimum of 2 hours to spend enjoying the meal. That's from when we're seated to when we leave. You try spending 2 hours at a restaurant table and see how often you get asked "Is there anything else I can get for you??????" Which is the nice way of saying hey, we're tired of waiting on you to quit yakking, move on and free up the seats. Oh, and we don't want the meal served until we've actually eaten everything off the appetizer plate...but that's another post. The point is that we just don't live in a patient society.

Yet, we are called to be patient. Galatians 5:22. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. So, in my struggles with patience a song from my childhood has always come back to me. It has 3 verses and by the time you've sung all 3 usually the traffic has cleared, the light changed, or Farmer John has gotten to a wide spot in the road where you can pass. This is from a children's choir musical titled "The Music Machine".

There was a snail called Herbert
Who was so very slow
He caused a lot of traffic jams
Wherever he would go.

The ants were always getting mad
The beetles, they would fume,

But Herb would always poke along
and sing this little tune.

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry.
When you get, impatient
You only start to worry.
Remember, remember
That God is patient too.
And think of all the times
When others have to wait on you.

When Herbert was much younger
He often got in trouble
Forgetting that he was a snail
He did things on the double.

He'd crash through every spider web
With beetles he'd collide

Till one day Herbert's father
Took his speeding son aside.

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry.
When you get, impatient
You only start to worry.
Remember, remember
That God is patient too.
And think of all the times
When others have to wait on you.

As you can well imagine
There's a moral to this tale.
Some of you may find yourselves
Behind a creeping snail.

So if you are impatient
And you're easily disturbed.
Think about this little song
And take a tip from Herb.

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry.
When you get, impatient
You only start to worry.
Remember, remember
That God is patient too.
And think of all the times
When others have to wait on you.