aah haa moment

I always joke (and I am not alone in this)"don't pray for patience". It really goes for anything. If I pray for more faith, what is God going to do to increase my faith? Just wave a magic wand? I doubt it, give me situations to give me faith? YES!!Praying for anything, faith, strength, patience, humility, compassion ( I did this and I now live with my mother-in-law :D )is going to get us things to teach us how to have these. Look at the fruits of the Spirit. Try praying for that and see what you get. God usually puts someone or several someones in my life to make me more like Him. He wants us to have unconditional love, He wants us to forgive.Unfortunately that is how we learn, or at least attempt to learn. I was being sooo spiritual yesterday at church and was praying for God to help me be nice to someone that drives me crazy and I got a huge aah ha moment. Not fun but huge... I am that someone that so so prayed for when they needed to be more compassionate...OUCH! I am teaching someone patience, unconditional love, etc. and not by being a godly example but because I rub someone the wrong way? Say it isn't so. How humbling, how painful, how embarrassing, how unfortunately true.