PATIENCE

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Colossians 3v12

There are those of us in this world who, once they have made a decision, just want to get on with it! And there are others who have ‘the patience of a saint’ and are prepared to wait. I fear I fall into the former category. Waiting for DayDream to be repaired is very unsettling. I don’t want to start a new project or get too involved in what is going on locally because in my head I shouldn’t be here! The danger for me is that I can waste a lot of time and lose my mojo to get anything done. Saturday was a case in point. It was, admittedly, a very wet day which left me with no inclination to go outside. But worse than that it gave me no incentive to even get out of my bed! Now it could be said I needed a day of rest. I had been going it some. What with the boat moving and nipping up to Edinburgh, I had also spent a couple of days counting apples on trees in Kent. Let me just say here that it you want to test your relationship with your partner, go and count apples together on a tree. It is far more difficult than it sounds and you need to have a methodical mind and plenty of patience! It is also fairly tiring as you are on your feet all day, sometimes up a ladder, and counting apples takes intense concentration!

So perhaps a sabbath was in order and I did write a couple of letters, do a codeword and watch the Great British Bakeoff, so not all was wasted! When I eventually stirred my stumps to face the day (it was mid afternoon!) I cleared and tidied the kitchen surfaces in readiness for my DiLTB who is returning to live at our house next week and loves cooking. There is nothing more annoying as a cook not to have a clear, clean workable space!

We didn’t count on being here with three of our children in residence plus lodgers and partners. As adults we all have our own foibles so it takes effort to keep an harmonious home in order! Ones impatience is often felt by those around resulting in tension and disquiet. I’m reminded of how often I feel impatient in a supermarket – why do I always seem to get in the shortest queue that ends up taking the longest time? I am ashamed of the many occasions I have not been gracious with the checkout person due to my own desire for speed. Or the irritation I quickly feel when thinking I have got in the slowest lane in a traffic jam? What good comes from being impatient? It certainly doesn’t alter the outcome!

Have I not learnt anything about patience from living through a pandemic? Here I am wingeing on about the delay in our boat being ready and yet can we really be in control of timing anything? One positive LFT and plans fly out the window. Last Saturday an event that had incurred much planning and hard work, had to be postponed on the morning because of covid. If I could learn to be patient, to adapt my expectations and turn negative experiences into positive ones then maybe I would be less anxious and easier to live with! I have been struck by something R says when asked about his experience of boating life. He says when he is at home he wakes up and thinks ‘what tasks have I got to do today’ whereas on the boat he always wakes up and thinks ‘who am I going to meet today’. So in my impatience to get back on the boat I am trying not to worry about what actual day we will get there (even though the later it is the less likely we will be able to do our chosen route of the Kennet & Avon but perhaps that is part of God’s plan that we do another part of the network for now!) but to enjoy the freedom of having nothing in our diary for this week. To be able to get up in the morning and ask God to bless any encounters we have and to put in our path those he wants us to meet. I listened to the Sunday morning worship on radio 4. The preacher said our circumstances impact our mood, which of course can be low when life is tough. He suggested an alternative – to let the joy we have through our relationship with Jesus impact our mood so that whatever our circumstances we can be joyful because of the hope we have in knowing God is with us and for us.

My patience regarding our boating adventure seems very trivial when I compare it to the patience required when awaiting medical procedures or waiting on test results. Amazing how the brain can go off in all sorts of tangents and think only of the worse case scenario. Infact often the waiting is harder than knowing the full facts because once you know what you are dealing with you can get on and do something.

So patience – in the waiting, I will try to live in the moment, making the most of each day rather than angst about tomorrow. Trusting in God’s timing, not my own, who knows what alternative and more fulfilling opportunities may arise!