Patience is Waiting

Day 292 of Photo Inspirations -- Patience is WAITING
So this week, at our Bible Study, we're looking at the Fruit of the Spirit quality of PATIENCE.  Lord, please give me patience RIGHT NOW!  Patience is a word we seem to want to avoid talking about because when we start talking about it or asking for more of it, we get lots of reasons to NEED IT in abundance.

Yesterday, I walked outside and I breathed in my favorite time of year.  The freshness of the rains the day before and the cooler temperatures made me so aware of God's creation and the absolute precision He operates in.  I wanted it to be Fall several weeks ago.  I was ready for cooler temperatures.  I was ready to get out my cozy Fall clothes and boots.  But no.....God's precise way of doing things trumped my desires.  I'll be PATIENT!

Yes, Fall has been slow coming this year, but leaves are turning colors and the fallen ones crunch beneath my shoes. As I am surrounded by the beauty of the change of seasons, I lift my eyes to Him and I am reminded to be still and WAIT.  WAIT??? But God, I'm too busy to wait.  I've got this to do and that to do and don't you know my kids are coming in town next week and I've just got to have everything JUST RIGHT for them.  Doesn't that sound a lot like Martha and all she thought she had to get done for the Master?

I think God was assigning this Bible Study to me, and for me, to cultivate even more in me than the ladies I'm speaking to.  I'm hearing Him say.... "WAIT.  Be still and know I am God."  We all have different journeys in life and along the way there is going to be a time for waiting -- PATIENCE -- in the grocery line, the traffic light, in the pick-up line for the kids from school, at the doctor's office.   We live in a culture of FAST food, FAST oil change, FAST internet, FAST lane, FAST digital cameras  Waiting isn’t really on our minds. We ALL want what we want . . . NOW!  But there is a peace that can comes in the waiting. I have grown tremendously during those times of waiting.

Patience is such a great gift. It has taken me time to see it as a gift.  I'll be sharing that with our group. I have learned when my patience is tested, I must give it to God. I give Him my worries and frustrations and trust Him completely because I am called to walk by faith. I wait in hope because He surrounds me like a shield, He is my protection along the way and He will be my strength. Waiting and patience are part of His Master plan for me, so I might as well GET IT sooner than later because I sure don't want to have to go around this mountain another time.  I want to learn my lessons well the first time.....so I think I'll just sit right down here by these still waters and wait!

What's Your "Attention Getter"?

Day 23 of Photo Inspirations -- Taco Bueno!!
I was driving to the post office and thinking, "Wonder what my photo inspiration will be for today?" Then as I was crossing the intersection at Riverside and 71st, I looked to the left and my eyes were drawn to lots of those "attention-getter" flags.  And they got my attention.  Just beyond those flags was a brand new Taco Bueno that I hadn't even noticed being built. But this day was the first day of its Grand Opening. Typically, a new restaurant or store wouldn't be a "seize the moment" opportunity, but this one was.

First of all, I was impressed with their branding -- those flags that made me do a double-take, and then I was excited about this new location here in Tulsa, and third, it brought back a flood of memories to the Grand Opening of one of their locations in Oklahoma City where we lived at the time. We were, and still are, a family that love Mexican and Tex/Mex food.  But when "fast food" Tex/Mex food (aka Taco Bueno) opened in OKC, it became the "daily routine" for our daughter. Living only a couple of blocks from it, Staci would go there for a taco or burrito or Mexi chips and dip almost every day.  Seems like a taco was like 25 cents back then.

This post isn't really about promoting Taco Bueno or even Mexican Food, but, once again, it's about "seizing the moment" -- carpe momentum.  That moment not only opened my eyes to a new business in operation -- what they're doing to brand themselves to draw attention, but it opened my memory bank to recall some sweet moments from the past.  I love it.  Living in the present -- in the moment -- opens our eyes to the past, the present and the future.  And I think to myself....."What a Wonderful World!"
#TacoBueno #WhatAWonderfulWorld #MexicanFoodByChoice