Patience

It has been said that if you pray for patience an abundance of incidents for which patience is required will smite you. But what if you don't pray for patience! I thought I was being oh so wily by asking only when I needed patience. I was asking from the storehouse of grace. I have no desire to be attacked with opportunities to be patient, so I wasn't asking that the virtue of patience be developed within me. Why that would be a faith of works.
I don't really believe that. I was just lazy and working on other virtues. And I sorely underestimated my need for patience.
Now we have Twiddlepants-the-Toddler. Who, as her name indicates, spends her day twiddling--usually in simple, easy ways that just slightly aggravate me. But simple, small aggravations build to crushing strength. And I find that crying for patience from the storehouse of grace is not enough for the everyday twiddling that occurs. I must practice the virtue of patience as an outpouring of my love for Christ and as an outpouring of love and grace for Twiddlepants-the-Toddler. And I must continue crying for God's grace as an example of how to live well.