Patience

I was part of a book study at our local Baptist church a few years ago.  The author of our book stated that it's not a good idea to ask God for patience because he will likely give it to you in a manner that you don't necessarily want.  I am not a patient person.  I've never asked for patience, but I feel like it's being given to me.  I am convinced that I was given a son with autism to help teach me to be more patient.  Today, I don't like the means by which it's being given to me!  Normally, I can walk from my car to my classroom in 5 minutes.  Sometime it's longer if I stop and talk to people along the way, but 5 minutes is a pretty fair estimate.  Walking from my classroom to my car is a completely different story.  The difference?  My son.  Today, we left my classroom at 4:09.  It was 4:34 when we got everyone buckled into their seats in the car.  Twenty-five minutes to walk up one flight of stairs, down a long hallway, and across a parking lot.  I did not have the patience for this today.  I wanted to get out of there and move quickly from point A (my classroom) to point B (my car).  Levi cannot do point A to point B.  Levi has to stop at points C, D, E, F, ... along with way.  Levi has to stop at every water fountain and get a drink.  There are 6 water fountains between my classroom and the door we use to exit the building.  Levi has to stop at each bathroom and wash his hands.  There are 5 bathrooms along the way that he likes to stop in.  There are light switches at the bottom and top of the stairwell that we use.  Levi has to turn both of these off and then back on.  After turning them off, he has to tell me that they're off and I have to repeat this back to him.  We have to do the same thing when he turns them on.  As we walk up the stairs, we have to count each stair.  FYI - There are 20! When we finally make it to the exit door, we have to prop the door open, repeat back to him "Levi close the door please" and then wait for the door to slam shut.  When we finally make it to the car, we have to turn the temperature control to fan setting #3 and play the same CD starting at song #1.  He has to open and close his door all by himself.  If I help at all he has to do it again without any help from me.  Most days, I just roll with it and go through the motions of this routine without much thought.  For whatever reason, however, there are some days when this routine pushes me over the edge.  Today was one of those days.  Yep.  Today, patience is not on my side.  Dear God - I'll take fewer lessons on patience!