Thanks for the feedback the other day on my patience talk. I’ve got one more favor to ask of you though. I need help with an illustration though. I think it’s an illustration I want to use in the introduction, a place where I can get us to laugh at ourselves over our natural inclination to be impatient.
I’m thinking of offering it up as a bit of a verbal quiz that would indicate your level of patience. Here are some of the questions I’ve already thought of:
- As a child, did you ever unwrap your presents early so you’d know what you got?
- Have you ever read the last page of a book you were reading just to see what would happen?
- Do you ever repeatedly push the menu button on your DVD remote during the FBI warning and get frustrated that nothing happens?
- Have you ever pushed the elevator call button after it was already illuminated just to make sure it was working?
I think I want to use this illustration for both the kids message as well as the adult message. Do you have any additional questions? How about some questions that would relate specifically to 4th and 5th graders. Remember, this is creating opportunities to laugh at oursleves, not meant to make us feel guilty.
Also, can you think of any other examples of our impatience that is just kinda ridiculous? These would be things that we do that are a little absurd, but our impatience leads us to do them.
Thanks for your help, I really appreciate you crowdsourcing help with this message.
I know you are a fan of Ortberg’s “The Life You’ve Always Wanted.” I love his illustration about jumping lines at the supermarket and then watching to see if you would have been better off in the other line. This is a good one for patience and one of those crazy things we do.
Do you open the microwave when there are 5 seconds left rather than wait for it to beep?
Do you give gifts to people before birthdays / Christmas because you can’t wait for people to open them?
When you send someone a text message, do you stare at the screen until they text back?
When you’re in line at a store, do you scan the lines to see which one is moving quicker and wish you had picked that one?
Personal question: why is it so easy for me to come up with examples of impatience? 🙂
.-= Wayne Stocks´s last blog ..Abijah’s “Some Good Thing†(Synopsis of Come Ye’ Children – Chapter 20) =-.
Have you ever been making home-made ice cream and eaten it before it was frozen?
.-= Lin Pearson´s last blog ..Cullen’s home-made ice cream =-.
“Have you ever pulled up to the Sonic Drive In, pushed the call button, no response, push it again, only to have them answer you as you are pushing the button for the second time?”
or
“Have you ever been waiting for someone to show up and you constantly watch the door or look out the window? As if that will make them get there any faster.”
(I used to do this last one when I was in 4th and 5th grade, unfortunately I still find myself sometimes doing it now that I am older.)
or
“How many times do you check the coffee pot to see if it has finished brewing?”
Two examples:
1) walking up to a stoplight w/ a crosswalk and pushing the walk button more than once… and pushing it again and again if the light doesn’t change right away.
2) while playing a video game with cutaway story sequences, pushing buttons to skip the story because it takes too long. Kids do this All The Time!
Good luck, buddy!
Hope our thoughts are helpful.