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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Father (as in paternal parent, not God) (04/10/08)
I love my dad. He has always been there for me. And ever since I have been diagnosed with a progressive neuromuscular disease, he helps to care for me. Whether he is lifting me out of bed in the morning, putting me in bed at night, or helping me to the bathroom during the day, my dad, my human father, is there for me. Through his examples of caring, I see how much the heavenly Father cares for His children too.

There is one characteristic of my human father, however, that troubles me greatly -- his impatience. He can be impatient about everything, but especially about control (usually physical or emotional). Sometimes, I would like to remind him that God, the heavenly Father, has total control over everything, and we need not be impatient at our lack of it. Our impatience seems to show a very faithless attitude. However, I occasionally need to be reminded of this too. I can be very much like my human father, becoming impatient, especially when I see or hear someone else showing a lack of patience.

Fortunately, my heavenly Father is always attentive to what is happening to me, too. When my human father is acting very impatient and I am becoming impatient with him, my heavenly Father reminds me that I belong to Him because of Jesus Christ the Lord and I should act like Him. In 1 John 4:8 (NIV) the apostle John writes, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Jesus Christ says, in John 13:34-35 (NIV), ‘"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."’ Love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13 (NIV), however, 1 Corinthians 13:4 begins with, “Love is patient…” Obviously, impatience is not love. In fact, it is the exact opposite of love.

“So, how do I stop feeling impatient?” I questioned the heavenly Father. “Give me your impatience,” He whispered quietly. That was it -- now when I feel impatient I give it to the Lord. Sometimes it helps to actually to visualize that I am handing over my impatience at the foot of the cross. It is funny to note that my human father, with some serious help from the heavenly Father, did push me to learn more about how to deal with my impatience.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Dee Yoder
04/18/08
It's lovely to read about your father's care for you. You brought some good points out about feeling impatient, too, and the way to trust God with learning to be more patient.
Jan Ackerson
04/20/08
Good idea, to both compare your father to your Heavenly Father, and to contrast them.

I'd suggest that you start with a stronger "hook"--the first two sentences could be elminated, and you could start with your disease. It's more likely to attract interested readers.

I too have struggled with impatience, and need to just give it up.