Pounding Head, Aching Hearts

Well, we are still just trucking along here in White Plains and we had a great day today. God really taught me a valuable lesson about patience this afternoon that I want to share with you. I pray that I have learned my lesson, but, sadly, I know myself well enough to know that I most likely will continue to struggle with this issue. It's not that I don't trust the power of God to be bigger than my impatience, but sin makes you do stupid things, and I will be a sinner until I go home to be with Jesus. So here's the story...

We went out this morning and did some prayer walking and some revisits to the people that weren't home on Saturday and then we took the afternoon off. We came back to the hotel to rest some after lunch and the guys asked us to work on writing some letters to interested individuals about the launch date and other church information. Unfortunately, I was not able to join in on the letter writing fun because I had a migraine and was on the verge of being very sick if I didn't take a nap. So up to the room I came and as I was walking toward my room, I noticed that it was next in line to be serviced. I told the maid to clean around me and figured she understood, but when it came time for her to clean, she woke me up every 5 minutes to ask permission to clean the bathroom, the beds, the floor, etc. (Literally every five minutes!) I really felt my patience was wearing thin, so I just went back to sleep. But when I woke up, I really felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit trying to teach me to be a bit more patient. In God's Word, Peter tells us about the patience of the Lord. Peter writes...

The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count

slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that

any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

Wow! Think of that! If I had been a little more patient with Carmen, rather than worry about her distracting my nap and adding to my pounding head, her aching heart may have seen the love of Christ through my patience. At times like that, I really feel like a huge failure to the Father, but I know that in my weakness He is strong and that He forgives. His grace is sufficient without my help and He is faithful when I am faithless. What a BIG God we serve. I pray that as we go out tomorrow I will be patient with this city and the hardened hearts of its people. God is so patient and longs for us to cry out to Him, let us be eager to share the love of Christ with this world through our actions and reactions. God is soo good..... :)