4-LETTER Words

1/7/11 Growing up in a home with a mother who could “drop” some bombshells of words, though never blasphemous, and a daddy whose vocabulary didn’t contain any 4-letter words, I clearly understood the difference. The flow of words from their mouths, whether LOUD & clear or soft and gentle, seemed to mirror their personalities. Mother, the verbal, was the more choleric/sanguine type and Daddy’s nature was more melancholy/phlegmatic combo. Establishing my own home as a parent, I knew that I wanted it to be free of 4-letter words—not that a “c---“ hasn’t been “dropped on occasion. In fact, the “S” word at our house was “shut-up” and was not allowed. We said “hush.”

Lately, I’ve realized that there is a 4-letter word in my own life.
If you can read Chinese, no need to read further---you’ve found me out.

It’s not a word I say out loud but a word that for me has all the negative connotations of an old-fashioned “cuss word” and I don’t like it. I don’t like it in my life’s vocabulary and yet it’s one God uses to teach me necessary life lessons. I know it’s a 4-letter word for me because my children see its manifestation in me through my impatience.

What’s the word you ask---WAIT until tomorrow’s blog and I’ll reveal it. Not really.

My struggle with waiting runs the gamut from the “rage” of everyday situations to the dramatic emotion of wanting to run ahead of God. IMPATIENCE is not pretty. Yet, we’ve all learned NOT to pray for patience because the life lessons that teach it are so difficult. So what now?

Internet friend, Carolyn O’s blog gave a worthy answer.

• Years ago I stopped praying for patience but instead now pray for the grace to wait on the Lord. That “re-arranged” prayer has radically changed my ability to wait. I now have HIS power and strength to wait for His perfect answers to my prayers and my cries for help. It has made all the difference in my ability to wait for His answers and to be able to see His hand at work throughout the process of bringing about His perfect will….. A HUGE difference! I used to say that “wait” is a four-letter word. Although wait still has only four letters in it, I’m learning to see that waiting is only tolerable through the power, strength, and grace of the Lord.