Major home projects come with a mix of patience, impatience, and gratitude. My house was built in 1914, and it’s reached that stage where repairs can no longer be put off. For nearly three months now, my kitchen has been in the process of being remodeled—a long-overdue project that we probably should have done a decade ago. But between budget and other constraints, it just wasn’t possible sooner. So, we practiced patience, living with the inconveniences—like a dishwasher whose button cover fell off—knowing that one day we’d gut the kitchen down to the studs.
Now, hopefully by the end of this week, everything will be finished except the floors. (Those we’ll refinish next summer when we tackle the whole lower level.) If you’ve ever been through a major remodel, you know that things rarely go according to plan—and impatience can set in quickly. I can’t really blame my builder for most of the delays, though. They were sometimes my own doing, like waiting too long to order materials or struggling to make decisions. We faced manufacturer and subcontractor delays. Everyone had their own timelines.
The biggest delay came from the flooring. We wanted to restore the kitchen using reclaimed wood, and I finally found a large supply—two hours away. But nearly all of it required me to pull nails from each board, night after night, for two weeks straight. That gift of reclaimed wood also gifted me with bursitis and a few weeks of daily physical therapy. Woo hoo.
For the most part, I’m a fairly patient person. I can roll with challenges. But my patience gets tested when the dishwasher sits in place—unconnected—for a week, or when an outlet goes in the wrong spot and delays the installation of the tiling. In those moments, I remind myself over and over: “I’m grateful I have a kitchen.”
Patience, Impatience, and Gratitude in Climate Work
Climate work, like a remodel, requires all three qualities—patience, impatience, and gratitude:
- We patiently persist, because a global crisis can’t be solved overnight.
- We impatiently demand action from our leaders, because we need a livable planet.
- We work filled with gratitude, because as people of faith, we know we’re entrusted by God to be earth’s caretakers.
I first learned about “global warming” in 1991, and by the next year I was taking it seriously. Since then, I’ve tried to patiently engage individuals and congregations in caring for creation. Over time, we’ve made real progress—cleaner energy, greener congregations, more efficient cars.
But now, as we hover around 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures—the very threshold scientists warned us not to cross—my impatience grows. I’m impatient with elected leaders who ignore my emails. I’m impatient with climate deniers who flood social media with nonsense. I’m impatient with the 111 corporations responsible for most of the warming. And I’m even impatient with myself for prioritizing a kitchen remodel over solar panels or an EV.
That impatience could easily consume me—except for gratitude.
The Fertile Ground of Gratitude
Gratitude grounds me when impatience threatens to take over. Over time I’ve learned that:
- Gratitude is the fertilizer that nurtures life-giving work.
- Gratitude is the pesticide that keeps cynical naysayers and climate deniers from choking out hope.
- Gratitude is the mulch that protects my compassion from erosion.
- Gratitude is the water that fills my spiritual rain barrel so I can share more with others.
Gratitude keeps me patient enough to keep working—and impatient enough to keep pushing.
It’s Your Turn
I invite you to reflect on these three words today: impatience, patience, and gratitude.
- What climate action is bubbling up because of your impatience with the way things are?
- What climate action can you patiently and consistently do—or keep doing?
- What climate action springs from your deep gratitude for creation?
One day soon, my kitchen will be complete. Filled with gratitude for the space, I’ll bake my favorite cupcakes and go share them with friends. Because after all, it’s in community—where patience, impatience, and gratitude combine—that we find what we need for the challenging journey ahead.