Trailblazin Ministries Blog

LaRosa

Sunday Afternoon Thoughts (Patience)

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Sunday, 06 May 2007
Filed under: Faith, LaRosa, Ramblings

Sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, you would think that there wouldn't be a whole lot on my mind other than the usual chilling and spending time with my family that I'm accustomed to, but that's not the case. I'm here with a few things on my mind and with a lot of questions in terms of the direction that I want Trailblazin Ministries to go, especially after the aftermath that came as a result of my previous blog entry.

Sitting in church this morning, I realized just how hard and difficult parenting can be, and how much patience and compromise that it requires. Yesterday (Saturday), I thought I would do something nice and take the whole family out and go see Spider-Man 3, so I had purchased the tickets online on Friday and surprised the kids (mainly Ryan) that next morning. Well, things didn't quite go as planned. First and foremost, Ryan wanted to keep acting up to the point where he didn't deserve to even see the movie, but we went anyway (after we all took early naps, myself included). Got to the movie and the kids were cool at first; Ramiah was watching the big screen and was captivated and Leila was sitting next to Robin minding her manners. That was until Robin came back with popcorn & drinks, then both of the little ones gradually got worse; Ramiah wanted another bottle and then wanted to try to grab our drinks and play with it, and started crying when he couldn't get his way. Then Leila got mad and started to get riled up when we told her she couldn't have any of our drink (she had her own) and that she couldn't hold the popcorn bag herself. So, not even 45 minutes to an hour into the movie, I just told Robin that it was time to go because I didn't want our kids to ruin it for everyone else trying to enjoy the movie (or be forced to leave or have food thrown at us).

Needless to say, I was heated, especially when you throw in that Ramiah got quiet as soon as I took him out into the hallway. My patience was really worn thin and I did my best to let it roll off my shoulders (because I had a feeling that this was going to happen with the little ones). I had really wanted to see the movie, but now I realize that I can't take these little ones anywhere fun without them ruining it because of their age. All of that got me to thinking though; back before I got married I used to be a really patient guy that could sit and watch grass grow (not literally, but you get the idea); now that I'm married with kids, I have to work extremely hard to keep my cool and not take it out on my kids, especially when they are the cause of what ails me. Like yesterday, I just calmly walked out, put the kids in the car and we just drove home, while apologizing to Ryan for his siblings' misbehavior.

All of this makes me glad that I have the Holy Spirit and that one of His fruits is patience/long-suffering. When my patience gets thin, I can just rely on Him and walk by and according to the Spirit in the manner that He would have me to walk. I can make the right decision and walk by the Spirit, which enables me to exhibit the fruits that we are told of in Galatians 5:22-25. Most assuredly, it is Christ that lives in me, and my flesh that is being denied on occasions like this. Thank God for His Spirit and His working in my life.