Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (1 Corinthians 13:4)
Although I live in Florida, I grew up in Michigan. I very clearly remember as a child in the winter time getting all bundled up with
mittens and coats and boots before venturing out into the snow. So, this illustration of patience from the life of an elementary school teacher seems plausible.
There was a kindergarten teacher that
was helping one of her students put his boots on at the end of the day. This little boy had asked for help, and
the teacher could see why –the boots were a little small, and even with a lot
of pushing and pulling, they didn’t want to go on.
When the second boot was finally on, after the teacher had already
worked up a pretty good sweat, they little guy pointed out, “Teacher –they’re
on the wrong feet.” And when she
looked down, sure enough they were on the wrong feet.
They were nearly as hard to get off as they had
been to put on –but she managed to keep her cool as they eventually got the
boots on the right feet.
That’s when the boy
announced, “You know, these aren’t my boots.”Fighting back a scream, the teacher once again grabbed the boots and began pulling and tugging and finally got them off his feet again, and then asked, “So, where are your boots?”
“They’re at home –they were too wet to wear
today.”
“So what boots did you wear?” She asked.
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, the teacher
pushed and pulled the ill-fitting boots back onto the boy’s feet, and then
asked, “And where are your mittens?”
To which the boy replied, “I didn’t want to lose
them, so I stuffed them in the toes of the boots.”
