Careful What I Ask For

Dear Lord: please give me patience!

I can\’t remember if someone told me or if I heard it in a sermon, but the response to this prayer is that God will not grant patience — God will grow it by presenting situations that cause people to exercise it.I\’ve learned that the hard way.I asked (read: begged, groveled, and pleaded) for patience and wondered why I was supremely annoyed almost every day.Ahhhhh … now I get it.I\’ve not done well with the situations in which I must exercise patience, especially those involving other people. Confession: I don\’t play nice with the humans much of the time.It is for this reason that I am grateful for the patience-growing blessing of working remotely.I am able to rant and rave about some email or document without harming anyone. I can draft my responses in a way that does not present me as the yowling yeti I was when I was throwing up my hands, rolling my eyes, and making all sorts of noises about the whatever-it-was that upset me in the first place. If I was in an office, everyone would know that I take issue with at least 10% of my emails and about 80% of the documents I read each day.I am grateful that I can walk away from the screen and put my mobile phone on silent. In those times, I can go for a drive, play with the dogs, watch a movie, or cook a fantastic dinner to let off steam. If I was in an office, I\’d never have an escape from the horror. Or I\’d be in trouble for spending too much time in the employee cafeteria, toilet, or outside if I did choose to escape in some way.If I\’m having a very hard go of it, I can start my day in my pajamas and drink three large cups of coffee before making myself presentable. I can take a day off, not turn on the computer at all, not review anything or read a single work email.I am truly grateful.Just remind me to be careful what I ask for …