“Love is patient…” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4 (ESV)
PATIENCE: An active endurance of opposition, not a passive resignation… Patience is endurance, steadfastness, long-suffering, and forbearance. ~ Holman Dictionary (emphasis mine)
My husband and I are absolute opposites when it comes to sleep. I am totally a morning person – always have been. My dad used to wake us up with a cheery call “rise and shine”. I guess it is just ingrained in me – I still “rise and shine” (except my bones take a little longer to get in gear these days 😉 )…My husband is the total opposite. He comes to life when the sun sets…and likes to stay up late — really late.
There was a time in our marriage when we went to bed at different times. Believe me when I tell you – that was not good. Some nights my husband didn’t get to bed until 2am. There were nights when I waited and waited (not very patiently)…Looking back, it still pains me (just a little).
What do you do in a marriage when you are not on the same page? It took me a very long time to get where I am today.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
~ Psalm 40:1 (ESV)
Through praying and staying in His word, God heard my cry; not changing my husband — but working on my heart first. You see love, patience, respect all go hand-in-hand. I have learned that I can not change my husband (and should not). But I can ask God to make things clear to me, to change me, to help me see others like God sees them.
Working through the process in my marriage, helped me to also become more patient with others outside my marriage/family. I do still have impatient days, but they become less and less. Being patient brings peace and things seem to work smoother.
As for bed-time? We have compromised…we go to bed between my husbands and my time. I still rise early (I need a little quiet time in the morning before my day starts), but I wouldn’t want to give up the cuddle time before falling asleep for anything in the world…I just sleep less 😉 …
Thank you for stopping by today. Make sure to stop at Marsha’s blog “Marsha’s Musing” to link up and read other posts about “Love is Patient”. Remember: ask God to change your heart first before you ask God to change someone else.
Iris, this is so true, ask the Lord to change your heart…in this case, to develop patience.
I was a little, no a lot, impatient this evening. We both came in after full plate days and it attempted to go down hill from there.
Thankful we had a good evening after we both stopped and adjusted our own attitudes and expectations.
I didn’t realize I was so impatient until this week… Lord, change me!
Thanks for participating this week.
Blessings.
I’ve enjoyed browsing your blog. I like what you said about asking God to change you, not your husband. That is sometimes the hardest thing to do, allowing for the fact that it just might be us that need changing, God will take care of him.
My husband and I are on different sleep schedules and it can cause a “separation” at times. He goes to bed at 9 and could stay up until 12. I’ve learned to go to bed around 10 so that we can have some time together, but it’s still a struggle to go to bed at 9!
Great post! So often we try and change those around us, without first realizing that we must allow God to work in our hearts first. Thank you for reminding me of that today. I look forward to more wisdom-filled posts from you!
What a great lesson indeed. I learned this years ago…never try to change my husband but ask to change my heart….HUGE!!! but when we can seek to change ourselves we take the blame and strife out of the problem and allow the Lord to work which HE always does!!
I am a late night person as well and love to sleep in ~ 🙂
Thanks for your pose today….Blessings to you
Wonderful post my friend, love you.
I love this beautiful lesson Iris. The Lord is always interested in working on our hearts, making the changes in us. It is miraculous the way things suddenly work out when we simply walk in obedience in Him
I’m proud of you. He is molding you into His image and you are beautiful.
Great post, such wisdom. That’s one of the biggies, surrendering that the change isn’t about him, but me.