Reconnections are priceless...

I've had the opportunity to reconnect with wonderful people from my past and I'm so glad the we've been able to engage in conversation.  Anybody who knows me knows that I love my friends deeply and do everything I can to show them all the time.  I do everything from sending daily texts to making weekly calls to them.  I really want to get to the point where I'll just send them cards in the mail with the most recent pictures of the family and other little things that will physically show them that I think of them often.  I'm so thankful for what God has blessed me with and that he's allowed me to love the way I do.

I just got off the phone with my mother, who had informed me that she took a 110 question assessment during a bible study class to see what her gifts and traits were.  She told me that she scored the lowest on mercy.  What blows my mind about this is the fact that my mother is studying theology and wants to be a church counselor or something.  She has the compassion of a gnat and even less mercy.  She has little to no patience with most people and anything that she would consider "foolishness".  She's so comical to me because she's seemingly the complete opposite of what a pastor teaches on Sunday morning to his/her congregation.

I'm not really sure where I get my patience and love for people from because it's certainly not from my mother.  She's never been really affectionate towards me or anybody else for that matter.  Working with others requires quite a bit of patience and self control, especially when it comes to one's attitude.  My mother doesn't exactly think outside the box when it comes to the consideration of others.  She doesn't really care about what a person has been through before they encounter her and her reaction is usually a mirror of the person she's dealing with at the time.

Lord, please help the church folk that will be dealing with my mother.  Not many people have the patience or the wherewithall to handle her abrasive nature and therefore many people don't really understand her.  Help my mother to see things through optimistic lenses instead of the pessimistic ones she sports regularly.  Help her to be gracious with her tongue and courteous as well.  Smooth out her abrasive nature in exchange for lovingkindness and a smile.

I love you, Mom.  You are too funny...