A Lesson in Patience

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

One of the many lessons we tried to teach our boys was that of patience. Our youngest grew extremely tired of hearing, Do you know what patience is? He seems to be a fairly patient person, so I guess that lesson sank in.

For the past ten months, I’ve gone through the process of getting dental implants. My level of patience improved exponentially during those ten months.

THE BEGINNING

This process began in 2008 when our youngest was a Junior in high school. I was the uniform mom for the marching band (for all four years, y’all—what was I thinking?). It was Spring concert night and the marching uniforms had given way to tuxes for the guys, and formal dresses for our ladies.

The kids were on their way to the auditorium when I looked up to see that one lone tux jacket hanging on a hook inside the uniform room. In my haste to get it to him, I grabbed it and ran. I tripped over the color-guard mat and went down like a felled tree. Splat.

My teeth and my nose took the brunt. My dentist told me they were okay for now, but one day they’d come back to haunt me. And they did. About five years ago, I had to have root canals on two of those teeth. This past year, yes, right in the middle of CoVid, the front tooth began to hurt. Another trip to the dentist told me it would have to come out. But also, the one next to it as it had a horizontal crack. Sigh. My best option was to get implants.

THE PROCESS

In October, after having seen my regular dentist, I was sent to an endodontist and an oral surgeon. Three front teeth were removed. They hoped the ordeal would be over in about four months. One trip said, four more weeks. The next it might be, we need to wait for this to heal before we can do that. Believe me, getting implants is a slow, drawn-out process. It must be so that time is allowed for bone growth if you have to have a graft. Then tissue must heal—a couple or three times.

I wore a temporary flipper for several months. But today, ten months later, I got my permanent teeth. They look so good. The process was well worth it.

A Lesson in Patience @DDuPreeWilliams #faith #patience Share on X

LESSON LEARNED -BE PATIENT

Did I have to have patience? Yes. I could have gotten discouraged and pitched a fit or two during those ten months. But what good would that have done? A bad attitude wouln’t make things move faster. So, why not just live my life and—wait? My prayer was often, Lord, give me patience.

Hebrews 6:11-12 (NASB) says And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

 Now, I know my teeth are not what this passage speaks of. But I can certainly apply it to my life.

Through this process I had a lot of hope: hope they’ll be through this month; they fit; no gum graft. I held onto that hope throughout the entire process. Faith that my dentist would do the best job he could for me sustained me.  And I was fairly patient. In the end, I inherited Dr. Alvey’s promise that he’d make sure everything was perfect.

And it was.

GOD – FAITHFUL AND PATIENT

Through it all, God has been faithful and patient with me. I’ve been blessed during this process as I shared many snaggle-toothed smiles with our youngest. He’s the family clown and loved his Mama’s goofy smile as I bid him goodbye on our frequent Facetime chats.

My sweet husband didn’t complain once when I went without my teeth for weeks at a time during our CoVid isolation. Gotta love a man who thinks you’re beautiful even when you feel you’re not so attractive.

So, today, I am blessed. It was quite a journey, but in the end, the promises to me were fulfilled.

Did you know God is just like that? All the promises in the Bible will be fulfilled one day. As I patiently wait, that’s something I can sink my teeth into.

Blessings, y’all!

 

See my FB page for photos of my goofy before and then my after with my new teeth. Debra DuPree Williams on FB. I’m claiming brave!

 

I don’t know this person,  but this song is perfect for this post. I pray it blesses you and your circumstances. While we wait, let’s worship God together. Love to all.