I don’t know about you, but I know myself, that as long as things are going smoothly, I’m ok. In fact, I can be one of the nicest guys around – real joy to be with. But just let something go wrong and I’m fit to be tied.
A number of years, when our kids were small, we were travelling from Saskatoon to Dauphin. We stopped in at Yorkton to have a cup of coffee and fill up with gas. We got the gas and then went over to the restaurant for coffee. Now, I’m in a bit of a rush to get to our destination – my in-laws (not that I wanted to see them, as much as I was getting tired of travelling).
So when we get to the restaurant, it’s filled with people and it takes 20 precious minutes before we get served. Coffee and cinnamon buns – 60 cents each. Craig, our seven year old, doesn’t like his 60 cent cinnamon bun and asks for Kentucky Fried Chicken instead. OK, I tell him, we’ll pick some up as we’re leaving town. Then Kristyn, our two and a half year-old, spills her soft drink and I make the comment that a meal doesn’t seem to pass without someone spilling something.
I get more tired and more anxious to be on our way.
Finally after everyone’s had a chance to go to the bathroom, we get into the car. We stop in at the Colonel’s for some chicken and guess what everyone else in Yorkton has decided to have for supper? We take our number and wait patiently, impatient for No. 49 to be called. The guy in front of me orders 45 pieces of chicken! Inwardly I groan, outwardly I paste on a smile as he jokes about how big an eater he is. Finally, the Colonel’s boys and girls put my order together and I’m out like a shot and down the road.
Fifteen miles east of town, Linda gasps, “Guess what?!? We forgot Kristyn’s blanket at the restaurant!” What can you do? There’s nothing you can do except turn around and drive back. By now, I’m mad. Who wouldn’t be? How can a 2 ½ year old child so attached to a blanket forget it? Why doesn’t she forget it when she goes to bed? How come only when she leaves restaurants?
We get into Yorkton, I roar up to the restaurant and tell my wife to go in and get that blanket (besides it’s her fault for letting Kristyn forget the blanket – isn’t that what mothers are for?) Also, I’m too angry to go in and be nice to people and besides it gives me an opportunity to lecture Kristyn on the virtues of remembering her blanket next time or else she’ll have problems sitting down. So we get the blanket, turn around and I’m figuring out how much gas we wasted and how much time we lost by this unnecessary excursion, etc. etc. etc.
Then I come home and the following Sunday, when as a pastor I have to give my Sunday sermon, I discover it’s on the topic of patience and the key verse is Proverbs chapter 29 verse 11: “A fool always loses his temper but a wise man holds it back.”
You can imagine how foolish I felt. I then asked God to forgive me and to help me hold my temper in the future. I’m glad to say that I think I’ve learned some good lessons on the topic of patience since then. These kinds of meltdowns are now a part of the past for me.
If you have the same problem as I do, perhaps you need to ask God to give you the self control you need over your temper.
How much better to be considered wise, than a fool.
