Patience

On Friday, I dutifully began composing my post. I'd been corresponding by e-mail with an aspiring writer. I thought his questions were pretty common if one is contemplating writing a book, so thought if I addressed his questions, it would be an opportunity to reach a wider audience and offer some needed help to other aspiring authors.

I copied his questions, asked over a period of several weeks, into a Microsoft document, then pasted them into this blog, and proceeded to answer them. It was a lengthy proposition and took me probably an hour and a half or more to complete. I was anxious to get back to painting my bedroom, and be through with this obligation. When I clicked the Publish Post icon, the whole thing scrambled into that mass of computer gibberish that is symbols and letters and almost unreadable. Oh the angst and anguish. I had just wasted all that precious time when I could have been working in my bedroom and getting it back together!

I copied the whole mess, pasted it into my Microsoft Word and figured I'd try later to recover it, and went back to painting. But as I painted, I thought what a headache it would be to do that and how much easier to just skip the whole thing. But I had already missed my turn two weeks ago as I was out of town, so twice in a row would be unacceptable. And the thread on the Goosefeathers was on the angst of writing blogs, so I absolutely could not "drop out" at this at point.

Saturday morning I agonized about how to recover what I considered to be a worthy and informative effort, then worked on making curtains instead of writing. At 11:00, right in the middle of the morning and my efforts at getting my bedroom back together so we could sleep there, my husband had a call - a sister in the ward was moving today and wasn't packed, but would he please take the ball and run with it, getting her moved out of her apartment into a home on the other side of town with her son, who, by the way, wasn't helping at all.

My husband hung up the phone and stood dazed shaking his head. When he explained what had happened, I called a couple of sisters and asked them to meet me at her apartment in 15 minutes and we'd pack her. My husband could round up some brethren with trucks and come a little later and start loading. It worked. He found one couple with a pickup and willingness to come and help. Five hours later we returned home totally exhausted, dehydrated, and hardly able to climb into the hot tub to ease our aching bodies. (You have to remember that we each saw our 70th birthday a couple of years ago.)

For my scripture study yesterday, I had re-read President Uchtdorf's conference message on patience and as the soothing waters bubbled around my aching limbs, I thought of a couple of paragraphs that seemed pertinent to my frustrating blog experience and my exasperation at people who simply cannot get organized in their lives.

"Impatience is a sympton of selfishness. It is a trait of the self-absorbed." I wanted to be done with that blog! I wanted this lady to take the responsibility of packing her own boxes and arranging for the move a few days ahead of time, instead of just calling and saying "Come and do this for me."

President Uchtdorf said, "Patience is far more than simply waiting for something to happen - patience requires actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results don't appear instantly or without effort." Definitely referring to my blogging disaster.

"Patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace. . . As the Lord is patient with us, let us be patient with those we serve. Understand that they, like us, are imperfect. They, like us, make mistakes. They, like us, want others to give them the benefit of the doubt. "

Okay - I understand that this sister is dependent on others for almost everything, and I should not have been surprised by this development. So my understanding is refined, and I do want others to be patient with my mistakes and give me the benefit of the doubt.

So forgive me for being late with my blog, and I forgive her for springing the move on us in the middle of a very busy Saturday. I'm going to print the following quote and put one by my computer and another by the telephone:

"Patience is a godly attribute that can heal souls, unlock treasures of knowledge and understanding, and transform ordinary men and women into saints and angels. Patience is truly a fruit of the Spirit."

Since I'm working on becoming a saint, I think this will be an important key in that process.That and the rest of his talk on patience. :)