In the waiting room

"as you wait"

Jude 1:21

The wait is over.  I love that feeling.  Don't you love it when you don't have to wait anymore?


My Awesome Girl has been in New York City for the past few days.  For us, that's all the way across the country, but I don't think it matters much. Away is away.  And she was away.  But yesterday, she came home.

I don't have a lot of experience being away from my kids.   They do sleepovers, of course, and once or twice Hubby and I have done a weekend away from the kids, but that's it.   So this was the longest she and I have ever been away from each other.

She was with my mom, and my sister, brother-in-law and nephew, so I wasn't worried.  She called home of course, and praise God for texting!  But the house wasn't the same without her.  25% of the family was missing!  That's a big piece!  So yesterday we were eager for her to be home, but her plane didn't land until the afternoon, so we had to wait.

I have always thought that I'm not good at waiting.  But really, I don't know anyone who would say that they like waiting.  The thing is, there are different kinds of waiting.  And for everyone, one of these kinds of waiting is difficult.

Some waiting has a defined ending.  Like my girl coming home:  she had a scheduled landing time.  Now, that could end up changing of course, but in those situations, most likely, I'm gonna know exactly when the waiting is going to end.

But there are some kinds of waiting when we have no idea when it will be over.  In general, I think that's worse.   Especially if it goes on for awhile; it can seem like it's never going to end.

The difficulty of waiting can depend on the expected outcome, too.   Waiting for Christmas Day, or a vacation, or the birth of a baby has a different feel than for something you're dreading, like a dentist appointment.  Or what about waiting when you don't know what the outcome is going to be, like after a job interview, or waiting on medical test results?  Agony.

The duration and outcome of waiting matter a great deal, but I think the biggest determinant of how difficult waiting is going to be, is what you're doing while you're waiting.  Because the worst thing you can do, is nothing.  I don't think any waiting is supposed to be passive.  Why do you think pacing and thumb-twiddling were invented??  The closer it got to Awesome Girl's landing time, the more jittery I felt.  The Apple of my Eye was working, and Amazing Boy and I were just trying to keep busy to fill the time 'til she landed.  But it can be hard to concentrate on things when all you can think about is what you're waiting for.  But think about it:  your choice is counting minutes (or days or months...) or focusing on something else.   So focus on the one thing that promises peace ~ Him.   Isaiah 26:3 says "He will keep in perfect peace, whose minds are stayed on Him."  Man, I love that promise.   Jesus set the example for us, the night before His crucifixion.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, during His anxious time of waiting, He prayed.  While my girl was gone, I prayed for her a lot:  that the weather was comfortable, that she was learning things, that she was having fun, that she was having lots of chances to take pictures (her favorite thing).  Praying for her was a wonderful way to keep my mind on Him, while it was still on her.   And that's so much better than just waiting.

~ "Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait" ~

Jude 1:21