Practicing Patience

One of the challenges that I have had through this journey of an illness, is practicing patience. I have been trying to be patient when it comes to many different aspects of my illness. First, it was being patient while waiting for a diagnosis, then being patient while trying to find the right treatment and seeing whether this one will be the "miracle", and now being patient while waiting to hear from the BMT team at TCH in Houston. I pray each day, that God will help me to be more patient, and sometimes I am, and other times not so much. It is such a daily struggle. I know that God has given me the strength to be patient, I just have to find it within myself. I think when you are in so much agony, and so drained (physically and emotionally), you have the desire to just get discouraged and want to give up. But those are the times when practicing patience and relying on the Lord are crucial. I once read that you should try not to think of something bad happening to you, but for you. I know that may sound strange, but I think its a positive spin on a negative situation. That saying resonated even more with me, when I read in scripture that God will reward us double for our troubles, just like he did with Job. But we have to stay in faith for that to happen, and that's where patience comes in to play. James 5:7 says, "Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains." I think this is such a beautiful scripture verse. It helps me to know that I have to be patient in order to see the rewards of God's blessings, just as a farmer practices patience waiting for his crops. Patience is a difficult thing to practice, but so important. I know that by being patient and faithful that I will see an abundance of God's blessings. It may be a difficult journey, like it was for Job, but in the end, the rewards will be so worth it. 



Joyful Love 
          &
Blessings In The Lord
Alexandra K. Acosta