Good things come to those who wait

Patience.

When I was in Young Women's, one of the values in Personal Progress (Divine Nature, perhaps?) had a requirement that was described basically like this: pick a trait you would like to acquire, and for a month, pray and fast and work to acquire that attribute. At the time, my little sister and I would get in some stodgy ol' tiffs. To this day, I probably don't even remember what they were about. I would probably get upset that she would use something of mine without asking me, and then I would probably get upset that she wanted to be just like me, and she would probably get upset that I would borrow her hair stuff without asking, and she'd probably be upset if I walked into her room. I don't even know. We were probably just upset at the other one because we thought the other one was upset. Good grief. My poor mother...

Long story short: what attribute did I pick?

Patience. I knew I was impatient with my little sissy. Did I ever.

And now what do I do for a living?

Nanny someone else's children. Aka: patience.

Although this job, at times, can be extremely difficult and definitely test my patience, it always makes me so grateful for the sweet little boys that I am blessed to share my life with, and the rest of the family, who all happen to be extremely incredible individuals as well! I don't look at this job as "work" anymore; it's become a part of my life, and I love it. I come home and talk to my mom about diapers, and runny noses, naptime, new words, how many times I had to change someone's clothes (including my own) who ate what, funny things the boys say, how good or naughty they were, and all the things a mom would probably talk about. I realized that my life has begun to revolve around these little boys, and you know what? I kinda like it. Sometimes I make fun of myself and say that I need a life outside of toddlers, because I catch myself snapping at people when I need their attention... so impolite, I know. I can't help it! But I still wouldn't have it any other way, because I adore what I do! Yes, it is hard, and yes, I get tired, and yes, I'm sometimes impatient, but I could not ask for a better job or a better family to work for. Heavenly Father has blessed and provided for me immensely!

Patience is such a hard thing to learn. It even requires patience to acquire patience, that's how tough it is! Wrap your little brains around that, munchkins! I had a seminary teacher and a bishop say to me once, "Heavenly Father, can't you give me some patience already?!"

Sometimes we all feel that way. At least I hope it's not just me. Unfortunately, patience doesn't work that way. Remember that story about the little kids that were given a marshmallow, and told that if they waited five minutes, they could have two marshmallows? One marshmallow is good, but two is better. Of course, it required patience to get the second marshmallow. That's how life is. You can have this, which is good, right now, but if you wait, you can have THIS, which is better - but all of it is on the Lord's time. That's the part where patience comes in. We, as mortals, don't understand exactly what the Lord's timetable is. To Him, our life on earth is a short period, but to us, well... it's a lifetime! And, as mortals, it, being all we know, feels like a seriously long time. Heck, a week feels like a long time!

But the Lord knows best, and He knows what we need, and when we need it. Live worthily, follow the spirit, do what feels right, and you will be led to the things that He has intended for you. It's not such a hard concept, but it requires you to lose yourself, forget about your time frame, trust God completely, and let Him guide you.

He knows what He's doing :) and that makes me happy.