Put your hand up if you often find yourself waiting for things? Waiting for a promotion….waiting for an exam result….waiting for a medical test result…waiting for a holiday…waiting to move house…waiting to become a certain age….waiting for a certain event to happen…waiting to get better…waiting to hear some news….waiting to hear the outcome of something…waiting for a promotion….waiting to be able to afford something….waiting for the children to get older…waiting for the divorce….waiting until after the surgical procedure?
I decided at the beginning of this year that I wanted to blog more regularly. I’ve had some lovely comments about my blog and how I should write more often, but a lot’s happened since the beginning of 2022 (I like to keep life interesting and unexpected!) and it struck me that I’ve been playing some of these “waiting” scenarios in my head before I write my next entry. Today I suddenly realised….”Surely, that’s the whole point? That we should act in the waiting, that sometimes the best things happen in the waiting, because waiting doesn’t mean everything else has to stop.”
Now, I appreciate that some things you can’t do until you have waited. For example, you do have to be a certain age to do some things and you have to be a certain height to ride some rides…the list goes on. However, that doesn’t mean everything has to stop in the waiting. It doesn’t mean we have to stop having fun in the waiting. It doesn’t mean we have to stop making a difference in the waiting, or living our dreams, or trying our best, or trying new things, or being happy.
Following some gynae problems that started last year, I’ve spent a lot of time this year waiting for appointments to investigate, waiting for results from investigations, waiting for surgery (to remove a football sized ovarian cyst and a full hysterectomy), waiting for pathology results (low grade ovarian cancer), waiting for a referral to another specialist cancer team following the pathology results, waiting for another appointment, waiting for more surgery (removal of appendix) and now waiting for more pathology results following the removal of the appendix!
In addition to this more recent waiting, it feels like I have had to do a lot of waiting and being patient in the last few years, infact, probably the last decade and a half. But it’s finally dawned on me that in actual fact, life for everyone is a whole series of different waiting rooms for all sorts of different things and, if we are not careful, we will end up continually waiting for things instead of getting on with our lives, instead of living in the moment, instead of enjoying every day.
How often do we play that phrase over in our head, “I’ll be happy when….” . Or, “I’m just waiting for that result and then I can move on and ….book that holiday, go to the party, live my best life, be confident” etc etc. So, today I realise that now is the time to write the blog entry, now is the time to do the things that make us happy and live out our dreams and our wish lists. Why stay in the waiting room being bored?! Why not take the ticket with the number on and get on with your life until your number is called!?
God doesn’t want us to be miserable in the waiting. I do believe that He often makes us wait for things. This isn’t to be mean or cruel, it’s because He knows the whole picture, He knows what’s best for us and He knows that we learn things in the waiting. We learn patience, resilience, how to love in the tough times as well as the good, perseverance, kindness and so many other things. I believe He also wants us to make a difference in the waiting….a difference to others, to give ourselves to others.
So, instead of looking down at our shoes or staring at the ceiling (or our phones!) in the waiting room; what if we open our eyes and see all the other people around us in the waiting room? What if we find a way to help them and be kind? What if we ask them a question that makes them look up and feel heard in their waiting? What if that thing we say to the stranger in the waiting room makes them take their ticket with the number on and start enjoying their life? What if we find a way to be kind in the waiting? What if we find another skill that we never knew we had in the waiting? A way to connect with another human being, a way to live our best life, a way to have fun, to leave behind a legacy of love, kindness and positivity?
So, today I encourage you to look up in the waiting, to live life as if you’re not waiting, because it’s a lot more fun to be running along the beach with your hair blowing the breeze, a beer in your hand (if you’re not waiting to be 18!!), lifting your face to the sun, loving others, making a difference and being happy!
And….if you find these things difficult, as a Christian I am blown away every day by God’s promises and faithfulness, so I also encourage you to ask God. He will always help you. You don’t need any special words or a special prayer. Just say “Help me” and He will. He knows the secrets of your heart and loves you more than you know. He has plans for you, when you step out of that waiting room, that are far more exciting and fulfilling than you can ever imagine!
