Yesterday produced a number of situations which provided opportunities to be reminded of the value of patience. The day began with a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some items before the day got started. When we arrived back to my Mom’s house she was ready to head out immediately. We had a busy day shopping planned. Our first stop was Walmart to price out some specific items of clothing for my daughter, Andrea and I. The selection was not the greatest so we moved on to the mall.
I should be honest and state up front. My style of shopping starts with, know what you are looking for, find it, and leave as quickly as possible. Waiting for three women to look for clothing and shoes in a variety of stores is not my favourite past time, but patience is a virtue, right? A couple of hours of shopping with very little to show for it we moved on to lunch.
The lunch took about two hours to complete. It is now after two in the afternoon and I still have not picked up the couple of items I went out to buy. A shoe store and a second hand store later, it was deemed we needed to return to my mom’s house to let the dogs out and give them some exercise. Now after 3:30 Andrea and I head out to another Walmart in search of what we were looking for. This time it was a superstore which we were unfamiliar with and involved a lot of walking before we found the section we were interested in. The selection really wasn’t as good as the smaller store, but we got what we wanted, waited in the line and eventually got back to the car. A quick stop at Staples to pick up a box of envelops for our business and a chat with a sales person in the electronics section revealed a sale on an item we were interested in. There was only one left of these items left in stock and they would hold it for us.
We had a better idea, we would go back across the street to the mall and check out prices there first, so no hold was placed on the item. When we arrived at the farthest point from the car in the mall and had decided to return to Staples, we received a call on my cell phone from my wife. She had gone looking in a high end consignment store a significant distant from where we were and found “two perfect outfits for my daughter at a really good price. We needed to come, “right away.” Remember we are at the farthest point in the mall from the car. We are right across the street from the Staples store and now we need to be at a “used clothing store” (did you pick up on my attitude here?) a good distance away, right away. Oh yes, my mom was also calling, when will you be back for supper?
When we arrive and go into the high end consignment store, my wife and daughter disappear to check out these outfits. I am left standing there, waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally the store owner suggests I could take advantage of the chair they have for such occasions. Later she comes by to compliment me on my patience. I was glad in that moment, my diminishing patience level was not visible. When it was announced neither of these ‘perfect” outfits fit, I showed proper sadness, and we dashed back to my mom’s for supper. They really were nice outfits and an incredible discount.
We had taken down a number of set of curtains and run them through the washing machine while we had been out shopping. The hems on two of the panels for the front windows had come out. My wife hand sewed them so they could be hung up before my daughter and I could head home. Task accomplished, car packed up, Andrea and I decided to swing by the Staples store. The sales person apologized but they were now sold out of the item we wanted.
Climbing back into the car we headed home. Traffic was moving well and had witnessed several vehicles fly past us travelling at excessive speeds through the first third of our trip. As I looked in my mirror I saw a pickup truck travelling at very high speed attempting to pass us on our right. There was incoming traffic coming off the ramp into that lane. I barely got the words out of my mouth, “that guy is not going to make it” as he passed us, when he collided with another vehicle. I am so thankful neither vehicle spun out on the collision or we would have been collateral damage. In that moment I stated, without even thinking, “That guy’s hurry just turn into a bunch of lost time.”
I began to think about the consequences which can surface when we fail to be patient. My wife left one of our church business cards with the owner of the consignment store should another outfit similar to what my daughter had tried on came in. What if I had not shown patience while in that store? What would have that have done to our reputation and representation of Christ?
Lesson learned for today. I trust it stay fresh enough in my mind to guide my responses in the future. May this help and encouragement to you to be patient. Patience is a fruit of God’s Spirit and available to us when we say YES to the relationship with Him.
By the way we, were able to get to a Staples store closer to home before it closed and pick up the piece of electronics we were looking for.