Still Praying for Patience...

A few years ago I decided to start praying for humility. It only made sense to me that God certainly wanted me to be humble and I figured that if I prayed for this surely He would grant it to me since it was a good thing to pray for. Boy did I ever ask for it! Many occasions were given me to be humbled. For instance- one day I was Sacristan and I set the church for Mass, being careful to make everything as perfect as I could. The church soon filled up with people and many greeted and talked to me. Of course a little pride began to creep in and I felt satisfied that I had done a good job and even more that people had noticed that I was the one who was doing it. As I was resting on my laurels someone came up to me and told me that I had my shirt inside-out. I looked down in embarrassment...sure enough, I had gone the whole afternoon that way. I went in the bathroom to turn it right-side-out. As I was coming out I saw Sister Barbara standing there. I told her what had happened and exclaimed "that's the last time I'm going to pray for humility!" And boy did I mean it at that moment! I guess I didn't learn my lesson from last time because more recently I began to pray for patience. I was cleaning the church a couple of Saturday mornings ago and was hurrying along trying to get done and on to our daughter's soccer game. When I was almost done little children began coming through the front doors along with their Faith Formation teachers. They had come in for First Communion practice. I asked what was going on and why I wasn't notified of this. I was frustrated and wanted to know who was responsible for this. While I was still in a tizzy a little girl got out of the line and without any words came up to me and hugged me. I was so surprised my heart just melted and I realized how unreasonable and lacking in charity I had become. I walked up to her and hugged her again and said, "thank you for showing me the love of Jesus." She asked about my daughter and I recognized that she was on her cheer leading team last fall. God has a wonderful way of pointing out to us the way we should go. I prayed for humility and God gently showed me that I was being prideful. I asked for patience and He nudged me that I was being inpatient and uncharitable. I suppose He teaches us these important lessons because like any good parent He loves us and wants what is best for us...what will bring us closer to Him and our salvation. Sometimes we listen and sometimes we have to learn the hard way if we are stubborn and hard-headed. But always God is there, listening to our prayers and guiding us. Thank You, Father.