Love is patient.

For the past 2 weeks God has begun teaching me about LOVE in a whole new way.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient..."

K, stop there. I'm sure many of you could continue reciting the rest of 1 Corinthians 13 by heart. It is a wonderful, powerful passage that challenges me with every word to change the way I relate to the world. I wrote before about how God was speaking to me about my faith. My prayer is to have a faith in the Lord that can move mountains, and it references that very thing at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13. It doesn't matter if I have faith to move mountains, I could have faith to shatter entire galaxies, but if I haven't loved others with the same love that Christ has shown me, faith means nothing. Wow. Powerful.

So about 2 weeks ago after I studied that passage I began praying this passage.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with the power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpassed knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 3:16-19

No extra explanation needed.

So as I have been praying to be filled to overflowing with the unconditional love and everlasting joy of Christ that comes through the Holy Spirit, I have continued to study and contemplate the verses that follow in 1 Corinthians 13. And that brings me to the portion I stopped at.

"Love is patient."

I have never considered myself a particularly impatient person. But you never know a person's true character until you turn up the heat and watch how they respond. So I think that's what God decided to do to me. (Literally! I'm practically sweating all the time.)

Yesterday marked 5 weeks that I have been here in Uganda. After 5 weeks, things aren't all flowers, rainbows, and smiley faces all the time. I feel at home here, and I love that. But being at home has its up sides and down sides. I said I never saw myself as particularly impatient, but my patience has never been tested like it has these past 5 weeks. Anyone who knows me knows I have plenty of experience working with kids in lots of different settings - childcare, preschool, swim lessons, VBS, summer camp. But none of those involve living with almost a dozen kids 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 5 weeks. This is a new experience for me.

There are many moments each day I find myself stopping to ask the Lord for the same patient and gracious love He shows me. And it is beautiful watching how God changes my heart. The same tasks that were grating on my nerves become a delight to me. The things that made me want to pull my hair out now seem humorous.

Changing the sheets after Don wets his bed is a chance to see how helpful he can be making his bed and an opportunity to dote on him for a job well done. Picking up toys is a time to sing together and work as a team, and then everyone gets a high-five when it's done. Helping the kids get dressed shows me more of their individual personalities when Esther wants something purple, Brenda wants to be different, and Fauziya doesn't care as long as I say it looks pretty. Folding laundry with the little kids becomes a fun game of matching pajama tops & bottoms. Brushing teeth is always crazy, but most of the time the kids will behave when they know they'll get good night kisses from Aunt Kelsey once they get in bed. When I find one of the kids eating rocks or keeping the rest of their breakfast sausage in their pocket for later, I can laugh about it and loving correct them. The girls are learning when they calmly stand next to my chair and watch me sew, they get to cut the thread and press the reverse button on the machine.

For the past 7 days the power has been out at least 10 hours every day, if not more. Something that might seem to become increasingly frustrating. But instead God has given me an appreciation for candle-lit dinners, a new affinity for spending hours reading by flashlight, and thankfulness for the few hours that power is available.

11 little children can create a large amount of noise. It seems that someone is always crying or whining about something. Everyone is hyperactive and eager to be as close to Aunt Kelsey as possible whether that means pulling, pushing, tugging, or climbing. Add the beating afternoon sun of Uganda to this equation, and you've got a potential for disaster. Or imagine trying to find clothes to fit 5 naked boys with no power, no light, wet towels flying every which way, and screaming from all directions. Assisting with homework can also be quite the challenge. The kids bring home homework that never really makes sense to me. It's all hand-written, and when I ask them, "So what are you supposed to do?" they just look up at me with a blank stare. Last night I tried in vain for half an hour to teach Joshua how to read the words cut, but, gun, pug, fuss, mud, bud, and gut.

I say all this with gladness because I have come to rejoice in the truth that when impatience threatens to get the best of me, the Holy Spirit is greater than all my frustrations. He fills me with abounding joy and love that overcomes impatience.