Waiting...

My goal to beat our adoption agency's record for fastest placement has (not surprisingly) failed, so we are doomed to wait indefinitely with all the other record non-breakers.  But interestingly, this has reminded me that waiting seems to be what we spend most of our lives doing: waiting to grow up, waiting for a dream vacation, waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Right, waiting to graduate, waiting for the perfect job offer, waiting….but looking back at my life, in retrospect at least, it seems to have passed rather quickly.  Did I not once think I'd never be done with school yet it is nearly ten years since I graduated from grad school!  Strange how that works, you cannot wait for 'it' to happen and then it does and suddenly it was last month or last decade or even last century!  I even get impatient waiting for my seeds to sprout in the spring, so it not a thing innate to adoption or even parenting, but to life itself

In our technologically obsessed society, waiting seems all the harder when we are blessed (or cursed?) with almost instant gratification, remember the days of dial up?  Or think what it must have been like waiting for a letter to cross continents and oceans via horse or wind driven ships.  And we fret and fuss when it takes five minutes for someone to respond to a text.  But yet, even with all our technology, there are some things for which we must still wait.  We have not found a way to speed up gestation, the seasons, or high school gym class; they must pass one second at a time, as they ever had.

But can we not do something with all this waiting?  Can we not use it for our good or that of others?  I believe it is in these valley of waiting in which we grow most as people (and no, I'm not talking about physically from all that stress-induced chocolate consumption).  It is in these 'trying' times we learn who we are and stretch the boundaries of who we might become, or not.  We are told to 'redeem the time, for the days are evil,' that is, put it to good and productive use.  Just because you are waiting, does not mean you get to stand idly by with your hands in your pockets, besides, that's an easy way to drive yourself mad: waiting with nothing to do in the interim!  But then, there are also times when we must, 'be still and know.'  Perhaps we just need to quit fussing and fretting, relax and use the time to reflect on that which is most important, rather than the thing waited for.

The day will come, eventually, but fretting about it won't bring it any faster, instead, enjoy the time you have and put it to good use, and the day will be here before you know it!  Now if only I could take my own advice…

As it was recently the Easter season, it is interesting to reflect on One who knows what it is to wait.  From the very Beginning, a Promise was made, a Rescuer was expected.  Kingdoms rose and fell, the whole face of the world changed, and yet, He did not come.  Then on a night no one expected suddenly He was here, only it was shepherds and cattle that bore witness to this wondrous moment.  Then thirty years would pass before we hear of our Hero again, save a little vignette of an incident in His youth, we know nothing of what happened in the interim.  What would it be like to be God, yet dwell in mortal flesh for thirty years before starting your mission?  That is patience indeed!  We are called to be like Him in every aspect, I suppose this is no different.