Can You Repeat That?

    For those of you who know me, you know I am a teacher. I teach 3–5-year-olds every week. That in itself is a challenge. But I also have to repeat myself many more times than the average teacher because, if you have never worked with preschoolers then you would not know, they have a hard time listening.

   One day I was in my classroom in the morning. A mother was dropping her child off. The child ran through the door with the mother walking quickly behind her. The mother looked at her daughter, let’s call her Quail, and said, “Quail, you need to wait for mommy to go into the classroom with you.” I chuckled to myself because this is one of the children who likes to do things her own way.

   The mother shook her head and said to me, “how many times do you repeat yourself a day?” I stood there and began to think. I was actually going to try to give her an estimate. Then she said, “maybe I should change the question: how often when you ask a child to do something do you not need to repeat yourself?” I laughed and replied, “it is quite often that I do repeat myself.”

   This whole scenario reminded me of patience and how patient God is with us. How many times do you think God had to repeat himself to the Israelites? According to impactus.org, he says “I am The LORD your God” at least 150 times alone. How many times did God remind them that he was with them? The word “love” appears over 300 times in the Bible according to christianity.com. The Bible talks about loving others, how God is love, and that God loves us over and over. You would think we would remember this because of how many times it is repeated. Yet, like children, we forget.

   2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God is willing to repeat himself because of his patient love. He created us and wants us to grow in him. Thus, while we are here, we are to show his love to others.

   So, are you showing patience with others? How can you remember God’s grace and patience each day?