God's Pace Car: A Lesson in Patience

Finding herself in a moment of rush, Caroline Godin remembers how God has been teaching her to slow down and be patient.

I’m Late

I’m late getting to work. We ran over with haircuts at my friend’s house as we talked about parish news and various family things. Then my in-laws came to take the kids bowling but my middle-schooler was still in bed … after one in the afternoon! I know, I shouldn’t be shocked.

I can’t complain, since going to work is sitting at my desk in my home office and writing. But before I did that today, I needed to fix the broken wing on the toy bird that fell while I was trying to get the kids out the door. Nothing superglue and a clamp can’t fix. So, I’m standing by the kitchen sink waiting for the superglue to slowly drip to the tip so I can start squeezing. Slowly. Dripping.

I sigh and remember how throughout my life God has used moments like this to slow me down. It’s my pace car. Let me explain that a bit.

God’s Pace Cars

As an ADHDer, I have a slightly heavy foot. Thankfully, God saved me on a number of occasions as a young driver and given me instances to give me better perspective. I’ve learned without serious consequences and for that I’m grateful. I was an idiot and plan on sharing all those stories with my kids in the hopes it prevents them from similar actions.

That said, whenever I catch myself behind a painfully slow driver—I mean someone going like twenty in a forty slow—I call it God’s pace car. He’s saying, “Child, slow down. You’ll get there.” I mean, really, going five over the limit makes only seconds difference to your destination, and that fact helps me chill too.

I also recall lessons from Confession. A priest once told me about using another’s person’s perspective to help us gain patience. “You don’t know what’s going on in that person’s head.” Maybe they’re a nervous driver, a new driver, or dealing with much stress or even car trouble.

I’ve had a number of other pace cars in my life. I was thirty and with two kids before my husband and I found a house and moved out of my parents’ place. I was nine years at a job before getting a promotion that I wanted. We were three years in this house before my office was built. Could I blame people, circumstances, even myself? Yes, but the best coping mechanism is always patience.

A Virtue Worth Waiting For

I joke with God (quite often actually), Why does patience take so long to learn?! I grin at Him, He grins back, we laugh. I imagine at this point He ruffles my hair. That’s the point though. It takes time to learn patience because patience is about taking time. I’m a goer, a doer, and mover, so patience for me is hard. I’ve gotten much better over the years, but I’m still learning.

Patience isn’t just about finding something to occupy your time while you wait. It also isn’t about sitting in silence and doing nothing. Either of those work while being patient, but patience is about attitude. If we can accept the current situation, focus on the goal, then accept the time and effort needed to get there, we grow in patience. If we can acknowledge setbacks or failures and find a way through or around them, we grow in patience. If we can find understanding for those who aren't as patient or those who hinder us in some way, we grow in patience.

If we can realize that every moment in every aspect of our lives is God teaching us something, and that He has the most astounding patience for us, His children. We, too, can grow in patience. It takes time and perhaps a life’s worth of experiences, but it’s worth it.

Back to Work

The glue finally comes out and I search for a clamp, realizing I should have had one ready before starting. I smile because it’s another moment I need to be patient with myself. Now I can go start my day’s work, writing, emails, planning. So much to do it’s overwhelming. That’s okay. One thing at a time and it will get done.

Click to tweet:
Patience isn’t just about finding something to occupy your time while you wait. It also isn’t about sitting in silence and doing nothing. #CatholicMom

We all have pace cars in our lives, sometimes more literal than others. If we can use those moments to communicate with God, see what He’s doing in our lives, we might find patience comes to us more easily. What’s your pace car right now? What’s His lesson for you in your life? I pray you have the patience (and understanding and all you need) to learn it and grow into the person He’s making you to be.

Copyright 2023 Caroline Godin
Images: (top, bottom) Canva; (center) copyright 2023 Caroline Godin, all rights reserved.