Willing to Wait?

I don’t think there is a person alive that enjoys being asked or told to wait. Especially Americans seems to struggle with waiting. We treat “wait” as a 4-letter swear word. We like instant gratification and view waiting as an unwelcome interruption. Waiting in a line at the grocery store, in the drive-thru at a fast-food restaurant, at the dentist or doctor’s office, for a concert to start, or when we are on hold with a credit card company trying to talk to an actual person. These are some examples of physical waits.

However, there is also emotional waiting….for a doctor’s final diagnosis, for the semester or school year to finally finish, for a hard stage to be over with our kids, or for just about anything related to relationships or parenting!

We sometimes seem to do better with knowing how the long the wait is going to be. When there is 5 minutes left on the timer and we know then the warm chocolate chip cookies will be ready, we are fine with that! Conversely, when we are told we will have to wait 20 minutes to speak to the customer service representative, it can seem like the longest 20 minutes of our life. The interruption of the wait, even when we know how long it is going to be, can either irk or calm us.

When I was younger, the wait seemed to bother me more than it does now. Maturity and perspective show that sometimes the wait/interruption helped you to avoid something negative. However, we also realize that time is important and none of us ever seem to have enough time to fit everything into a day that we want! We don’t get involved in things or learn something because we never have enough time. An interruption/wait uses up our precious time.

As COVID-19 is making its presence known globally and now here in the United States, we are being asked to wait. We have waited for this situation to escalate for close to a month, and have been in various forms of restrictions for the last two weeks. And the end is not yet in sight. We don’t know if this will be over in two weeks, in 30 days, in 60 days….the end is not yet in sight. We are on a long hold with the “normal” life that we are accustomed to going to church, going shopping, seeing friends and family, and generally deciding our days. That has been interrupted.

And yet…..somehow this feels like a gift. Like having our “regularly-scheduled life” interrupted is not a bad thing. Is it terrible the pain, suffering, and death that people are experiencing nationally and globally. Yes! However, for my family and for me in our little paradise on the North Shore of MN, it is an unexpected and unscripted gift. The gift of uninterrupted time with our families!

Even in the mundane and simple waits in life like a McDonald’s drive-thru, you can chose to focus on the wait or focus on your surroundings! Have you ever noticed how nice the day is when you have a forced moment to wait? For me while waiting on the phone, I often look out my windows at Lake Superior and see an ore boat passing or notice the color of the water or how big the waves are getting.

I have decided to focus on the people and opportunities around me the past few weeks and the days to come instead of the wait itself. Focus on God, focus on family, focus on growth, focus on friends, and a little focus on food! We are being asked to wait in our comfortable homes surrounded by people we love and WAIT. What a gift. Will you help/join me in being willing to wait?

A song came to mind at 3 am when I was waiting to fall asleep again. I will list the lyrics and link below:

Waiting Here for You
(by Christy Nockels)
If faith can move the mountains
Let the mountains move
We come with expectation
Waiting here for you, 
I’m waiting here for you

You’re the Lord of all creation
And still you know my heart
The Author of Salvation 
You’ve loved us from the start
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia

You are everything You’ve promised
Your faithfulness is true
And we're desperate for Your presence
All we need is You
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia