waiting

Ever notice how hard it is to wait?

Okay, I know that's sort of a "duh.  ya think?" kind of comment.
Considering how much time we spend waiting, you would think we'd be better at it. (The first time I realized there were microwave directions on a Pop Tart box I laughed out loud.  What, the toaster takes too long?) I mean, its not as if having to wait comes as a big surprise.  Even in this instant gratification age we live in, we still wait for things.  We wait for the mail; we wait for payday; we wait for the person we're disagreeing with to figure out  WE are right and THEY are wrong.

Some of it can't be helped; things take time.  We know that.  Those are the easy ones - dinner, downloading, hair dye.  As I contemplate waiting, I wonder how many gifts and blessings we miss because we are waiting for the visible, known conclusion.  I think waiting carries more with it than just the obvious delay. Waiting for everyone to be ready for church on a Sunday morning comes to mind.  With one VERY small bathroom and a family with several females - and one brave male - impatience often sets in quickly.  But during this time of frustration and the constant refrain of "HURRY UP!  I HAVE TO GET IN THERE!" vocalized from any one of the aforementioned girls, what are we overlooking?  The unique joy and experience that comes from being a member of a family; MUCH practice in sharing and cooperating; the opportunity to go somewhere that everyone enjoys, which is rare in a group of opinionated people; the chance to have breakfast, coffee, or conversation while waiting for our turn.

Waiting also seems to affect the value of what we are waiting for.  Girl Scout cookies, for example.  Once a year that famous fundraiser approaches, and everyone I know goes bonkers for cookies.  Girl scout cookies would be WAY less exciting if we could get our hands on them any time we wanted.  Therefore we are willing to hand over more money for those than we will for the Oreos we can get our hands on 365 days a year.  A few weeks before Christmas, my girls chose a set of games listed on ebay as one of their gifts.  We bought it, THEN realized the seller was located in China.  Yes, China.  (Note to self:  look over on the right of the listing page!)  Now understandably, getting something mailed from China takes time.  We expected that.  We did NOT expect it to take two months.  We had almost given up hope and were facing the possibility they might not arrive, and then one day, they were here.  Those two months were a regular refrain of  "I wonder if the games will be here today?"  There were gifts we received during that wait.  My girls looked, thought, discussed and agreed on something together.  They waited for me to look at their choice and make a decision.  We learned a little about international mail.  And when the games arrived, we had almost as much fun giggling at the chinese postage, signatures, etc on the packaging as they have had playing their games.
 
Living in a definite four season climate, we have things unique and exciting to each one which makes them worth waiting for.  As we are slogging through the middle of March, I am really tired of snow right about now, but who doesn't have that urge to run out and do the happy fairy dance during the first pretty fluffy snow? (C'mon, admit it..)

Think about waiting in traffic.  When we are heading to and from work that time can be either a frustrating delay or a nice quiet break.  What if we were sitting in that same traffic heading to the doctor to hear a diagnosis?  Or cash our winning zillion dollar lottery ticket?  Or the gas gauge is on E?  What if it's the first time we've been alone with our spouse in a week? The same situation, the same wait, completely different experience.

Waiting forces us to think things through a little bit more.  Being an impatient and implusive person, I think God has often used waiting as a chance to check my enthusiam and give me an opportunity to think - and sometimes change my mind.  One waiting skill that takes much personal practice and deliberate thought is choosing the right time to speak.  Listening to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit (THINK, STEPHANIE, IS THIS THE RIGHT TIME TO MENTION THAT?  WHY DO YOU WANT TO MENTION THAT?) has protected me more than once from digging myself into a nasty hole and creating the very situation I was hoping to avoid in the first place.  I wonder how often God puts a wait into our day to give us a chance to sit and rest with Him - and bless us in unexpected ways.

I think the difference in our waiting behavior has to do with what we perceive is coming at the end of our wait.  As with most things in life, we're going to get out of it what we put into it.  Next time that wait puts a speed bump in your day, peek around the corner.  What's hiding there?