Wait

I recently spent an extended time on "Hold" waiting to be connected to the order desk. So naturally I used the time to think about a potential "good word."

"Please wait!" There's an instruction that generally creates some annoyance or displeasure of sorts. And yet, it's also something that is a very big part of our lives. We need to learn very young how to wait. Of course, the wait time until our third or fourth birthday or the wait time until our fifth or sixth Christmas feels quite different from the wait time we experience as adults.

Our extended family is just now awaiting the birth of a new baby. It's an exciting time, not without a tinge of anxiety, for health and safety. But we also wait in faith that all will be well for this new family about to enter a whole new phase of their life.

Much waiting time is spent in places created for the purpose. And persons are given particular wait staff designations. Of course I'd much rather be waiting for my order of pad thai than sitting in most waiting rooms I'm familiar with. Maybe it's just waiting in line to make a deposit, pick up a new license, pay for my groceries.

I've been reading a book for awhile. It's not one of those front-to-back hurry-up books; it's one to pick up and taste a couple of pages over an extended time. The title is When the Heart Waits. Author Sue Monk Kidd has had an interesting faith journey, and like many of us, has experienced some kinks in her path. One thing she's learned is the need, sometimes, to just wait for what comes next.

She speaks of waiting time as critical to spiritual transformation, a necessary pause to allow a relationship with God to deepen and grow. She acknowledges the impatience and the anxiety that very often accompany the wait, but urges her reader not to skip ahead-- to jump the queue as they may want to do.

Scriptures are full of admonitions about waiting on the Lord. So many in fact that I'm not going to give you a reference. I suggest you Google the phrase and see what finds you. If you're like me, one will resonate with where you are today. If you'd like to share, we'd be happy to hear where you are just now in your waiting.

Posted by Marion