Are anybody else’s kids already thinking about Christmas? The other day Josh was strumming his ukulele and singing “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” at the top of his lungs in the other room. Someone should probably tell him that doing that during naptime while the two toddlers are trying to sleep doesn’t earn him any favors from Santa.
Josh has already planned out whose birthdays have to come before Christmas. He’s also ready that it won’t be until after Husker football starts up and after it starts snowing again. We keep trying to teach him patience about these events he gets so excited about, but I’m not sure he gets it. The other day I heard him pray, “”. . . and God, thank you for teaching me to be patient. Could you teach me something else now?” Oh, how many times have I prayed that prayer? It seems so funny to me coming from his mouth- this child I waited two years to hold in my arms. I think of a pastor I once heard say, “There’s only one way to learn long-suffering. By suffering long.” It brought tears to my eyes to hear that during the days of empty cribs and the endless baby showers of my friends.
As hard as it was, I’m so thankful God walked me through that road. It has helped me to trust in His goodness. What an amazing gift my son has been to me and worth EVERY minute of the wait. If I could have chosen to have a different child more quickly or to wait for the child God knew would fit perfectly in our family, I don’t know what I would have chosen during the impatient days. But God knew best and now I know to trust Him.
So I hope Christmas comes soon for the sake of my excited little boy. But I hope he continues to learn some lessons about patience in the process.