waiting

It occurred to me last Thursday as I sat in the waiting room at St. Joes that much of our lives are spent waiting. We wait in line for our favorite ride at the theme park or at the grocery store. We wait in traffic. We wait for someone to pick us up so that we can get a ride. We wait for a certain day to come (like a wedding, or vacation, or important meeting). we wait (impatiently)for someone to respond to our text. We wait for dinner. We wait for our brain to shut down long enough for us to go to sleep. And of course we wait in a hospital for the surgery to be done and for the Dr. to tell us how it went.

We spend a lot of time waiting and I'm guessing most of us think that waiting is a waste of time, but is it? Could it be that waiting is part of God's design for our lives to slow us down enough to see what's important around us. Last week, God himself knows that I really didn't have time to spend six hours in a waiting room while my "to do" list grew and grew...and yet, here I am and the world's still spinning! In that waiting time, I spent time talking with my brother, sister and sister-in-law - we dont get to do that much anymore. I spent time talking to a stranger whose son was in the hospital and was also waiting...turns out he's a Christian brother from Quincy. I spent time looking out a window and thinking about how blessed I am...worshipping God by staring. I spent time praying..thankful for my mom and asking for God to protect her. I waited and life slowed down and not much mattered except the waiting of it all and somehow that was what God wanted me to do.

Sometimes in waiting God speaks to us best...so next time you are impatiently waiting, don't be so impatient, it may be the best time you have all day. Hopefully we can grow to a place in our faith where we don't have to be in a waiting room to actually wait.