I am a good wait-er, not to be confused with being a waiter (that would be disastrous). I have written about waiting several times in this blog and I find it is a subject that I come back to often. We all wait, we all know what it’s like.
As a child, we would wait for the bell to ring for recess, lunch, or dismissal. We waited for summer break. We waited, although to many, it was just life.
This past Monday I was waiting in the car and started to think of all the times I have waited. A number of times came quickly to mind. Waiting for my wedding day, waiting for orders (this was a regular occurrence in the Navy), waiting for babies to arrive. When hubby was on a ship, waiting for my ship to come in (literally!). Sometimes it arrived on time, other times, it could take up to 3 hours past the docking time. Later, waiting for my girls to come into the car after school, waiting for them after choral rehearsals, or waiting for them to get off work.
I have spent countless hours in a car waiting. I would hate to tally up the hours, honestly. We have all done it though. You sit in the car, looking around. Watching people park their vehicles wondering if they are going to hit the other cars. Watching people get out of the cars. Some people jump right out of the cars, and move swiftly through the parking lot. Others take a long time, like they are cataloging everything in the car and checking and rechecking to see if the car is in park. They lumber getting out of the car and are purposeful in closing the door behind them. The walk through the parking lot is fraught with caution and care. Still others race into a space, parking quickly, taking up several spaces and are putting themselves together as they go across the lot.
After people watching I tend to start rolling down windows, getting some air to circulate and relieve the stuffiness inside. I grab my phone and start going through my pictures. Do I really need that picture of the play-dough rose I made for Little Miss? Will she truly miss seeing it the next time we are together? Will hubby actually use that picture of a screw that he found when he didn’t have his phone on him? These questions are usually answered in the negative and the deleting of photos commences.
After the three minutes of that activity I play games until I can no longer do that. The glove box is next in my sights. I go through the coupon book in it and wonder if I will ever really use any of the coupons or if, this December I will just toss it. This all happens within the first fifteen minutes.
Since we can no longer sit in the waiting room with our spouses, this is becoming a ritual, especially if you need to be there in case you need to drive your spouse home after the appointment. Such was the situation this past Monday. The appointment was last minute, so I expected to sit for a while. It was a pleasant day so all the windows were down quickly. The breeze had a touch of chill to it, but the sky was bright blue and the temperature was spring-like.
Like I mentioned, I thought about waiting. Some waits are easy and quick. Some seem endless and ominous, like waiting for a dental appointment. That feeling of unease and dread while listening to drills resounding in closed off rooms. Some waits are exciting. Seeing wrapped presents under a tree ready for little hands to tear into them. Waits vary, but we all do them.
After all the musing of waiting and the different types, it occurred to me that presently I am in two concurrent waits. Ones I don’t give a lot of thought to, but nevertheless they are very present in me. One is waiting to be called home to be with the Lord. A wait we all are doing at the moment. I know it’s morbid, but death is one thing no one is going to avoid. The other wait is for the glorious return of our Lord.
I Thessalonians 4:15 – 18 says, “15-18 And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.” (The Message)
So, wait, I will. Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate your visit, Cathi (DAF)
dearanonymousfriend 