Be Still

I was not born a patient woman. I was born as an impulsive, decisive, conquer-all kinda girl. I don't do very many things slowly. I walk fast. I talk fast. I type fast. I drive fast. I don't think I could survive without high-speed internet. When I say I want to do something, I do it immediately. That's how God wired me. Sometimes it's a helpful thing. It's a good thing cause I get things done quickly and I don't putter around. Sometimes it's a hurtful thing though. I am quick to jump to a decision and I don't put enough thought into my decisions. Decisions should be made with prayerful consideration and I don't know that I do that enough.

My husband is Mr. Type A. He is not a quick decision maker. Never has been. Never will be. He is slow. at. everything. He is not impulsive. Nor spontaneous. He is very intentional and puts LOTS of thought into things. Maybe a little too much thought. I mean seriously people, we don't need to spend months researching our next television purchase. When I heard him say "I think I wanna go buy a new tv", I was getting my purse together and looking for our keys so we could get in the car and head on up to Best Buy. Little did I know that all that sentence meant was that he is going to spend the next 6 weeks looking at the price of all t.v.'s online once a week. Neat.

Sometimes this behavior makes me want to scream. That's just him making a decision about a tv, imagine his decision making process for MAJOR life choices!! It's unreal. So unlike me. But I think that's one of the reasons God knew that Grant is my perfect compliment. These major life changes, or even a tv, are not things to take so lightly. Grant "tames" me in a sense. Grant isn't wired the same way I am. He is made differently, not any better or worse, but differently. I help him sometimes to be spontaneous ("Go ahead honey! Get an appetizer! Live on the edge!") and other times he calms me down a little bit. ("No, Jen, we are not going to buy a new entertainment center right now. It's 9:30 at night).

God uses these little instances to teach me so much. PATIENCE is one of the fruits of the Spirit. God calls us to be patient and wait for HIS perfect timing. Psalms 46:10a says "Be still, and know that I am God". I love that verse. Sometimes I say it to myself in my head during the day just to get myself to chill out a little bit. The "Be Still" part gets me to take a deep breath. The "and know that I am God" part helps me to remember that HE is in charge. I am not in charge. This world does not revolve around my schedule. He is God. He'll decide what happens and when. If this means that I have to wait a loooooooong time to get a house and get out of this apartment, I will be patient. If this means that we are getting a new t.v. in the year 2009, I will be patient.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" -Psalms 27:14