Patience Tester

Things or people can test out patience.

For the most part I am a mellow guy and it takes a lot to get me angry or ticked.

One person that can usually get under my skin is my brother Zach.

Growing up Zach and I were really close and he knew how to push my buttons.

Often he would push my buttons for fun.

He is one of the only people that could honestly push my buttons.

Since then I have had a couple of people that come along that can push my buttons in a different way.

Nevaeh and Connor.

Kids are amazing and I thank God for giving me two kids and one more on the way even though I am so undeserving of that.

From the moment they are born, they test our patience.

Nevaeh even had a shirt that says "Patience Tester."

This was no joke.

There are different stages of our kids have tested Hailee and myself.

A newborn, test your patience when it comes to sleep.

We see how patient we are when we get up at 3 a.m. to feed the kids then put them back to bed.

Kids go through stages, Nevaeh is coming to a defiant stage.

She is testing the boundaries of doing something and justifying why she does this in a peaceful way.

It gets to Hailee and I.

The further along we are parents, the more our kids are going to test us.

At some points we get angry and frustrated with things.

Zach was one person that could push my buttons.

We are not supposed to be angry at people.

Jesus talks about anger in chapter 5 of Matthew the first half of verse 22…

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment."

My brother can get me angry, my kids and wife can get me angry.

While we all lose it at one place or another, we have to learn to control our anger.

Anger is never a positive trait to have.

Often those that struggle with this the most have a lot wrong with them that need help.

My dad and mom were very abusive parents.

They struggled with anger.

I remember being 11 or 12 and my parents fighting from the time my dad got home from work til we when to bed.

At the end of that week of our parents fighting my dad came into my room with tears in his eyes.

He said something like, "Joel, I made some mistakes and have to go, you're the man of the house now. Take care of everyone."

First thought in my head, "Are you SERIOUS!!!!!!!! Your crying. Man up, how could someone who once kicked me with a steel toe boot to my head being crying?"

I said, "ok." But just thought how pathetic that was.

I couldn't imagine someone that big with anger problems crying.

At the time I thought what a wuss.

We all have personal issues to deal with.

We are not supposed to be angry at our brother, whether our literal brother or our Christian brother.

I have been guilty of both.

We are called to improve, to get control of our emotions and our anger.

The main thing that people should think when they hear Christian is love.

Is that what we see when we think Christian?

There are things that test our anger, hopefully we can get our anger in check.

Otherwise, the problem will just get worse.

I got to see my dad get over a lot of the anger issues that he struggled with through the years.

People always have the ability to change, sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom in order for that to happen.

Have a great day.