The Happiest Place On Earth?

Having three children has taught me a thing or two about patience. A few years ago we decided to surprise the kids with a week long trip to the “Happiest Place on Earth”! Oh yeah! You know where I’m talking! It was going to be an amazing experience to meet Mickey and all his friends, to dance with princesses, to indulge in all of the delicious treats and to board all the rides that make your head spin. So much fun!

But what you don’t realize is the amount of time you’re going to spend waiting in lines. And don’t get me wrong, it’s worth the wait! The rides and attractions are spectacular and the genuine joy on their sweet little faces is worth every penny! But when you’re waiting in a line a mile long in the Florida sun with a 6-year old, 4-year old and 9-month old baby, things are bound to go wrong. And that they did! There were little challenges every step of the way but one has always stood out to me and has proved a valuable lesson about patience.

My now very beautiful teenage daughter was just six on this vacation. She’s always been so mature and what I often call “an old soul”. It never occurs to me that she will act her actual age. She’s always years ahead of her time. But this particular day, she was very much a sweet, six year old waiting in yet another line for the thrill of the ride. I had asked her at least twice before heading into the line if she perhaps should use the bathroom first. “Nope, I’m good Mommy!” was her reply. As our family waited and chatted, I noticed her dancing around with a bit more excitement. “She’s just excited,” I thought to myself. We were now moving from the outside line into the building where the ride was housed. The dancing became a little more frantic and it was in that moment that I realized, wait a minute, this kid needs a bathroom! At this point, we were so deep into the line it would be near impossible to shimmy our way back out and towards a bathroom. As the line continued to move, the tears started to form in her eyes. The realization of her situation had now set in and the regret of not taking the few moments before hand to use the bathroom had settled into her expression as the warm trickle made its way down her little bare leg.

Now what? Where do we go? There’s no way but back down through the line. And that’s what we did. The walk of shame. Big, puppy dog tears of shame and embarrassment from her and steadied control and apologies to the line of people from me as we weaved our way back out. I was feeling so completely desperate. It was the end of the day. Just moments earlier I had given the baby, the diaper bag & pretty much everything I had with us during the day to my parents who were heading back to the hotel on the bus. They were gone. I had a small bag with me that I had thrown my wallet and phone in (just the essentials). I think I maybe had two or three napkins as well. What good was that going to do now? I was hot and angry and basically just done!

But looking into her eyes and seeing how upset she was, I couldn’t be mad. I felt for her. She’s supposed to be having fun and this is not fun! In that moment, I chose patience. I chose grace. We stood there in the bathroom stall and as I knelt down to her level to hug her and wipe her tears away, I felt the presence of God so deeply. She needed to know that it was going to be okay. That no matter what she did, she would know & feel love. My own eyes welled up with tears now and I told her everything was going to be okay. I didn’t know how we were going to manage, I mean, she was soaked! But somehow I knew that I couldn’t let that be her problem. She was just a child. There in that moment – sweaty, exhausted & kneeling on a public bathroom floor (blah!) I prayed. Out loud so she could hear me as well. It was a simple prayer but a genuine one of submission to God. “God, I don’t know what to do, but would you help us and bring back our joy? Amen”

At that, I set about grabbing paper towels and wetting them with warm water. Cleaning her legs and removing her wet shoes and socks. Busily going about doing the very best I could in a yucky situation. Within a few minutes I had her cleaned up as best I could and by now our tears had dried and we were laughing about it (sort of). That’s when I opened my bag to grab something and saw it! In the bottom of my bag was a dry & clean set of clothes, a fresh pair of socks and a clean pair of shoes! And they were all hers. To this day, I don’t even remember throwing them in the bag! If anything, I would have likely thrown some extras in for my four year old son (just in case). But nope! There was nothing there for him. But there was a full set of clothes there for her! How did that happen???

Now I know that this whole story is a bit trivial. I know that there are bigger problems in life that we face day to day; however, if we can be patient in the small things we can perhaps manage the big things with a little more ease. The underlying theme in this story today is patience and prayer go hand in hand. Romans 12:12 says “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” (NLT)

When we are angry or frustrated, turn to the one who listens without judgement and who provides for your needs in ways we could never expect. I LOVE this version of Ecclesiastes 7:9 from the Message, “Don’t be quick to fly off the handle. Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.”

I’ll leave you with this today. Pray. Why? Because there’s power when we pray. And if you’re not sure what to pray, just ask for help. There’s no right or wrong way to pray. God just wants us to have conversation with Him. Let him know what you need. Ask him for patience.

My Grandparents had a plaque on the wall in their home for many years as I was growing up. I’ve never forgotten it…

Patience is a virtue. Handle with Prayer.

Blessings,

April

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