Patience

It’s the week before Christmas and I am waiting impatiently for my first born to arrive. I have already taken off of work, Christmas presents are wrapped, house is spotless, car seat installed and the hospital bag in the trunk. I was ready to have this baby, I really did not want him to be born on Christmas day, and I was starting to feel impatient. I tried every trick and old wives tale in the book to get things going.  When I finally went into labor on the 23^rd my hubby and I had a small sense of relief knowing that he would most likely be born on Christmas Eve. Little did I know that I would have a 42 hour labor and be giving birth to my precious baby boy on Christmas day. 

I always get a chuckle when people ask me if I planned on having a Christmas baby. Plan it? No. Getting pregnant was a surprise so there was definitely no planning involved. Why was I hoping and praying that he would not be born on Christmas? I think it was due to everything I had heard people say about having a birthday on Christmas. Most people told me how hard it would be for my child, and for the whole family. Other Christmas babies told me that they always felt left out, got combined presents, and that they never had a traditional birthday party, etc. The world was telling me that it would be hard and that my Christmases would never be the same. What was God telling me though?

God was telling me to trust Him “Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) and to be patient “A man’s wisdom gives him patience” (Proverbs 19:11). It is hard to be patient when you are 39 weeks pregnant…but it is not impossible. With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Patience is not something that can be learned, taught, or practiced and expected to be mastered.  It is something that requires divine intervention by the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 talks about the fruit of the spirit “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control”. These attributes are fruits that are grown in us through the Holy Spirit once we have a close relationship with God. We can’t force ourselves to be patient…we have to actually feel the sense of patience in our minds…and that my sisters only comes from God. The closer we are to God, the more patience we will feel in our lives. 

We live in a hurry up society where we want to know everything that is going on and we want to know it now! It drives us crazy to not know the outcome of situations, but if we trust in God and rely on Him to give us patience, then we can feel confident that everything will turn out to fulfill God’s purpose. Even when we wait patiently, life is not always going to turn out how we want it too, but if we love and seek God first in our life it will turn out according to his will. Some people are misguided in thinking that God just wants them to be happy. Of course God loves when we are happy, but God has a purpose and a plan for our lives and not everything that happens to us is going to be good. If we trust God though, then we know that even bad events will produce long term good. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). 

        When we wait patiently for an outcome and that outcome is not what we wanted it to be…it does not mean that it was not what God wanted it to be. I was hoping that my son would not be born on Christmas day…but as it turns out God wanted him to be born on Christmas day. Although we have only officially celebrated one birthday I can already tell that it is a blessing.  I was way wrong, and as always, God is way right. He is now 21 months old and just starting to put 3-4 words together and really ‘talk’. It is an exciting time and I feel like I am really getting a glimpse at what is going on in that brain of his. The other day we were talking about birthdays. I asked him if he knew when his birthday was. He went over and grabbed his stuffed animal cupcake that plays the happy birthday song and started to dance to the music. I then asked him if he knew why his birthday was special…he smiled, pointed to the cross above his door and said Jesus birthday!! I cried. If sharing a birthday with Jesus helps my son to know Jesus then having a Christmas baby is the best gift God could give!

Father God, We want to trust in You, and not in worldly desires. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and transform our minds so that we may have more patience, kindness, and love. Forgive us for our sins and let us know how we can serve you today. Amen.