Patience With Our Words

While I’m the one who does the majority of the cooking in our home, my husband is the one who has the true patience of a cook. When he fries meat for us, he gradually simmers the onions and meat on low heat so they are not only thoroughly cooked, but also laden with flavor.

But when I fry vegetables or meat, I crank the stove burner to the highest setting. Sometimes my hurried method works, but in the process I usually get splattered by sizzling oil. Other times it results in a crispy outer layer and under-cooked food inside. Other times my food is burnt beyond edibility.

My husband has this same patience for starting a fire. He will slowly work to build the fire up, carefully adding one piece of kindling at a time to keep from smothering the flame. I, on the other hand, will throw all the wood I can on top of the smallest cinder in hopes that I can walk away and let the fire do its work of burning and warming our home.

Patience is a virtue I am continually chipping away at. In a similar way to these ordinary tasks, I’m learning to be slow and patient with my words as well. And I find these two pictures of patience from my husband to be a helpful reminder of what that patience looks like.

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