Love is Patient

So, I've been meditating on this one for quite some time now. So much for getting through one dare every three days!

But I think the important thing is to keep up going through the dares and making sure they are sinking in. Doing something for only one day or even just for the 40 days will not improve my marriage if I don't learn something lasting from it.

The book has some really good information about how love is patient. I won't share all of that here though. You can read the book yourself easily enough. I want to share here my thoughts.

First, the more I think about this, the more I realize that my dear husband probably has to practice patience with me more often than I do with him. That is not good. Ideally as a believer in Christ I should be the more patient one. Hmm, something to definitely ponder and ask the Lord to help me with!

Second, this needs to be learned not only in relation to my husband but also with my children. And with everyone I come into contact with. Whether it is that annoying person at work who can easily get my blood to boiling or that person who cut me off in traffic today. Not only should I excercise patience with them, but that will improve my marriage as well. The more patient I am with others in my life the more pleasant of a person I will be for my dear husband to be around. There is nothing worse than to spend time with someone who is always complaining about everything and snapping at everyone.

And the last thought to share tonight is that patience is not about just biting your tongue. That might be how it starts out in the beginning - biting your tongue and asking the Lord to help you. But in the end that is just bottling up your annoyance and frustrations. True patience is an inner calm when thing are not so calm around you. That is my goal. To be able to draw on an inner calm (that is the work of the Holy Spirit by the way!) so I'm not just "biting my tongue" but so I am truly exhibiting patience from the inside out.