Patience

Seems like the car dealership service center is always the place for deep introspection for me. Here I sit yet again, with another nail in my tire. I’ve been here for an hour and a half already. Reflecting on my quiet time from this morning. And the fact that on yesterday I had three opportunities to “lose it” but I chose to stay calm and defer those feelings to the Lord. Now, I’ve decided to write because, even though the waiting area has cleared out a bit and it’s nearing empty, this man that just came in chose to sit right next to me, even though there are PLENTY of available seats – far enough away from me for us both to be content.

I figured that I’d put off writing this post long enough. Even though I knew as soon as I sat down that I would need to write. Something was triggered in me that I didn’t recognize until I thought about the last time I was here to get a nail out of my tire. I saw the correlation with the things that have been going on and the Patience I have grown into as a result of being intentional and not allowing circumstances to ruin my day, attitude or my life. The last time negative things happened and then the nail getting in my tire had me so vexed on the inside that I was no good to anyone around me. But not this time.

This time, I stayed my course. I took my mind off of the situation by continuing to edit a video that I was already working on the day before. After that, I put in my ear buds and started listening to an audiobook. That’s where the man came in: the one who sat next to me. I came to the conclusion that he thought since I had earbuds in my ear that he wouldn’t disturb me once he took out his laptop and started typing. Still, he could have sat any other place and not disturbed anyone; because the place is almost empty. But since this was my test, I’m glad I passed it. Because not long after I decided that the man really wasn’t a bother to me, my name was called because they had finished servicing my car.