Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Proverbs 31 Wife - Week Five



Discussion Question #5: What tries your patience?  How do you typically react to things that don't go your way?

Hmmmmmmmm.  Maybe I should call this experiment off!  Do I really want to admit the truth here?  OY! What did I get myself into?!  OK *deep breath* here goes....

It might be easier to ask, "what doesn't try my patience"?  Seriously, what they say about menopause....that you are more irritable....so true!  And hard to tamp down when not only is your own nature against you but then your hormones rebel as well.  Not to off put the blame, I'm responsible for my actions....no one else.  But what sets me off the most is probably when I have spent the whole day making a nice dinner, cleaning the house maybe doing laundry too, and then my husband comes home and within 10 minutes of having dinner it looks like a small tornado blew through.  AND he never said anything about how nice the place looked before he messed it up! 

Sometimes I take it pretty well.  I think, well, cleaning is a never ending job.  We will be doing it for the rest of our lives.  I'm doing it for our comfort for today.  That he comes home and feels comfortable to be, well, comfortable that was the goal I guess.  And I'm not supposed to do anything for recognition really, unless it is to glorify God.  After all, I am supposed to do my best before God not to please man.

But then there are sometimes, especially when I'm "grumpgry" that I might say something and not always in a nice way.  "Thanks for trashing the place that I spent all day cleaning"!  "Gee, make yourself at home in the pig sty....why do I bother"!  I know!  I'm soooo mean!!!!!

I also don't like it when I've got things planned for the week, like meals and maybe an after dinner activity, and then he forgets about it, or plans something else, or doesn't get home on time.  I can get really upset then too.  Mostly because I took the time and effort to plan things out and someone else comes along and just wipes it out.  Like the mean kid at the beach knocking over your sandcastle!

And what does this say about me: when there is a big emergency, or a real crisis....I'm cool as a cucumber.  I take it all in stride, I drop everything and meet the need as quickly as possible and whatever else might get ruined is no big deal. I will then take all the time it takes to fix as much as possible and make sure all parties involved are as comfortable as can be.  But I blow up over some mail and socks strewn across the living room?  What kind of weirdo am I?  OK, that's a rhetorical question, thank you very much.

This is all a part of our struggle as humans.  I've just got to get better....I know, isn't that so easy to say?  I want someone to give me concrete steps to take to not lose my patience.  But all we can do is work on it one day at a time.  Remind yourself of why you are doing the things you are doing and what is really important.  It might take a long time......a reeeaaallllllyy long time.....but with true effort and prayerfully seeking God's help, we can beat down our nature.  Try it with me; let's see how we do.

Until Next Time.....
Franny

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