“Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

                   

Ah, patience.  Patience is a virtue and it has never been one of my strengths.  In fact that’s where this blog began, as I not-so-patiently awaited the birth of our first child, Eli.  Now our precious little boy is 16 months old and no longer a baby but a head-strong toddler.  Now the waiting game has begun for our second child.  At 18 weeks along I still have a long ways to go.  Nonetheless, my impatient soul longs to meet this little boy or girl, to know our sweet baby’s gender, the color of his or her eyes and hair, and the touch and scent of sweet newborn baby skin.

Yesterday we took Eli for his first trip to the zoo.  It was such a joy to see him marvel at the animals.  He turned and stared at me with a look of amazement as the hulking frame of a rhinoceros ambled by just ten feet in front of us.  As he marveled at the sheer size and uniqueness of each animal my pregnant body could not help but contemplate the logistics of giving birth to such monstrosities.  Did you know that African Elephants have a gestational period of somewhere around 660 days?  Talk about patience!  Forty weeks (280 days) is about all the time my mind can fathom carrying this precious little baby inside of me.  I guess God must have given African Elephants an extra dose of patience in order to endure such a long waiting period.

The animal kingdom is not the only part of nature who reflects a need for patience.  A few years back Dave and I took a road trip through the Pacific Northwest.  We backpacked out to the furthest west point in the continental U.S. in Washington State, took a ferry across the Tswassen-Swartz Bay between Vancouver and Victoria, BC, and drove along the Pacific Highway marveling at the beautiful rocky coast of Oregon. We saw so many of God’s amazing creations and were left with many beautiful photos and memories.  Our final stop was at Redwood National Forest in California.  If you have been to see the redwoods, you know that you can do nothing but stand and stare in amazement at the sheer width and height of these trees – trees that have been growing for hundreds of years and continue to grow and expand.  As humans we start out somewhere around 20 inches long and, on average, grow to somewhere between 5’5” and 5’10” (although at 5’3” and 6’2” my husband and I don’t quite fit into this expectation).  Our expected growth is limited and generally occurs over a period of 21 years or less.  These numbers are, more or less, finite.  The redwoods, however, must have patience.  Their expected growth is exponentially greater than ours and takes much longer.

Imagine if we, as humans, were able to truly take the perspective of the elephant or the redwood.  How much more patient would we become!?

Afterall, the God who created every animal and every tree created and cares for you even more.  He will carry you through whatever it is that you are struggling to be patient about. 

“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  

Matthew 6:34

**Note: This post is part of the Gathered Thoughts Link Up Party at www.lovefeasttable.com.  You can check out more bloggers posts based on inspirational quotes by clicking on the button below.

One year ago today marked the culmination of...

14 months of trying to conceive

41 weeks of pregnancy

and 

20 hours of labor.

One year ago today I finally got to meet this little guy face to face.

All of the waiting was more than worth it!

Happy First Birthday, Eli!

I am amazed at the little guy you have become in just one year and so proud to be your mom.

One year ago today I was frantically trying to prepare thanksgiving dinner on my own for the first time.  My mom had her second major neck surgery just a few weeks prior and the duty to prepare the meal fell on me.  Needless to say I was a bit stressed about getting everything just right.

Two years ago tomorrow Dave and I made the decision that we were ready to start a family.

One year ago yesterday I spent the afternoon in the hospital to get a procedure done that would hopefully determine why Dave and I had been unable to get pregnant over the previous year.  The procedure was unsuccessful and therefore inconclusive.  We had no answers.

One year ago today I spent part of my morning sitting on the floor of our laundry room crying, wishing for answers, and struggling to be thankful.

Today I am incredibly thankful.  I am thankful for my beautiful, healthy son who was born just 18 days ago.  I am thankful for the family and friends I am surrounded with on this holiday and so many other days.  I am thankful for the prayers and support of so many over the last two years.

Today I have no reason to be anything, but thankful.

In January of this year I happened to be listening to a Christian radio station when they challenged their listeners to each pick one word to commit to learning about for the year.  Although, their presentation was pretty cheesy, and I had never before committed to a New Year’s resolution, immediately I knew the word I needed to commit to was patience.  I have never been a patient person.  My parents knew this early on.  At 5 I informed them that I would never learn to read, at 7 that I would never learn to ride a bike without training wheels, and at 21 that Dave was never going to ask me to marry him.  I am proud to say that I am now fully literate, able to ride on two wheels without assistance, and have been happily married for 5 years.  I just needed a little patience.

When this year began my patience was already worn.  Dave and I had been trying to get pregnant for almost a year.   We had begun to wonder if it was possible.  But in January I made a commitment to God: with His help, I would work on learning to be more patient this year.  It’s amazing what a great provider we have!  Within two months we found out we were pregnant.   And so began the great waiting game for our little boy to arrive.  There have been many smaller trials of my patience over the last 10 months, and in the meantime Dave’s patience with me has certainly been tried as well (thanks for sticking with me babe!), but the greatest trial has been the 9 months of waiting and growing rounder by the week.  We are now 2 weeks to the due date and I am once again getting impatient.  When exactly will I get to meet this precious little boy?  What will he be like?  How long until I can put on my shoes without bending into contortions? 

I know that learning patience is going to be a lifelong process for me.   I also know that this little boy is going to try my patience on many occasions.  I only hope that as I commit to learning about patience I can set a good example for my son and will continue to give thanks to God, who has been so patient with me.