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Patience is a virtue

Hooray! The outside barbeque area is finally starting to take shape. The structure has gone up. Unfortunately, when they dug out the holes for the posts they didn’t consult with us regarding where to put the dirt (which is more silt actually, considering our home is built on an area that was reclaimed from mudflats). The workers followed the foreman’s instructions to spread the extra dirt over the area, completely ignoring the fact that it had been dug, smoothed and the base course  laid ready for the concrete to go in as soon as the structure goes up. This means, we will potentially need to have it relevelled and a new base course down, especially as we do not want the new concrete sitting on a silt base layer. My husband spoke to the workers who are going to relay our concerns to the foreman / boss and we are waiting on contact. Regardless, having already paid for this work to be done, we are not keen to have to pay out for it to be redone.

 

In the meantime, I have given it to God for a good outcome. Proverbs 19:11 says, ‘A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offence’ and Proverbs 14:29 states, ‘whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.’ There are many verses in the Bible regarding patience which is also a fruit of the Spirit. We are exhorted to clothe ourselves in patience—along with compassion, kindness, humility and gentleness. All these attributes are part of loving others and love is more important than allowing ourselves to rage when things do not go the way we expected. This doesn’t necessarily mean we ‘put up’ with it, it simply means we have a very calm and clear conversation to arrive at a solution.

 

Patience has always been difficult for me. I thank God that as he continues to grow my, I am exhibiting it more and more. I do however, have to take a deep breath and count to ten sometimes. Do any of you struggle with this?


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