Human Resources

I was having dinner with an acquaintance recently, and he said something that made me think.

"You'd think with something as finite a resource, we'd be more likely to take care of it"

Now, he was actually talking about silverware, as the establishment we were at had given us plasticware, instead of silverware, for our eat in meal.

However, I mulled over his statement for a while, and even commented back to him about how right he was on an even bigger scale.

We tend to take other people for granted. We used to them being there, either because, as in the case of family, they've always been there, or in the case of friends, it seems that despite our faults, they stick by us.

But what happens when we use up that human resource, when we push the limits of grace, love and patience? Should we be surprised when the person we've used gets fed up and wants no more? Is it simply a matter of "hey, dummy, you need to stop" or is it a case of someone who will leave us because we've abused the resource, much like rubbing the lamp too many times and hoping the genie will fix it.

I know that I can be a difficult person to deal with; I'm loud, outspoken, often obnoxious, opinionated, and sometimes brash and bullheaded. Have I taken inventory on the stores of grace, love and patience with those in my life? What have I done to replenish those stores, so that in some future event, I may need extra grace, love and patience dealt my way?