They That Wait

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." ~ Isaiah 40:31

I'm not very good at waiting.  I always feel as if there was something better I could be doing with my time.  And yet, I seem to have spent a lot of my life waiting.  Growing up, I waited for my father.  A lot.  He was a school principal of each school I attended from 2nd to 12th grade.  As such, he was my ride to and from school, and so I waited for him almost every day to finish his work (often a meeting) so he could take my sisters and me home.  I knew he was doing something important, so I tried to wait patiently, but even though I got a lot of practice over the years, I never really got good at it.  I always thought I could be doing something better, something more fun.  We didn't have iPhones or tablets in those days, with games to amuse us, so unless I had a good book with me, there was nothing to be done but to wait.

During the summers after my academy graduation, I worked at our local hospital as a ward secretary where my main job was waiting.  Waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for a visitor to ask for the room number of their friend or family member, waiting for a patient call light to come on, waiting for someone to need me to do something.  It was during one of those summers that I read a John Milton sonnet where he said "They also serve who only stand and wait," and suddenly my job of waiting took on much more meaning, gathered around it a sense of importance.  Waiting, being ready, was a service in and of itself!

Several years into my teaching career, I took a break.  I quit my job and spent a year doing post-graduate work at the University of New Hampshire and then another year serving as Au Pair for my sister's two children while she and her husband were at work--teaching, as it happens.  The two were ages 4 months and 3 years.  I remember thinking more than once that I ought to be doing something instead of playing with the kids, reading to the kids, waiting for them to wake up from their naps, etc.  It wasn't until I realized that merely being there for these two precious family members was what I was supposed to be doing.  There truly was nothing better to be doing with my time than playing, reading, and waiting.

It took a long time--some might say an eternity--to find and marry my soul mate.  He says the same thing.  We were decades old by the time we got married.  Our announcement on Facebook merely said "Finally."  The post went viral--among our friends and students (present and former) at least!  We both said it was worth the wait and that learning to be content while waiting was one of the best things we had learned in our lives before marriage.  It wasn't always easy, to be sure, but it was worth it.

This summer has been one of waiting.  Waiting on so. many. things.  Waiting to find the right house.  Waiting (and hoping) for the seller(s) to accept our offer(s).  Waiting for the inspection to come through.  Waiting for the appraisal to be done.  Waiting for the buyer(s)'s response to our "Repair or Replace" request.  Waiting for yet another "right" house to come up for sale.  Not once, but 12 times more!!!!!  They do say that the thirteenth time's a charm, right?!  We've also had to wait for a job to come through for my husband.  Waiting to find the right opportunity.  Waiting for the call back after the first, second, and third interview.  Waiting for paperwork to be read and signed.  Waiting in line for so many things, I must surely be an expert on waiting by now!!!

Our realtor is a strong, positive Christian who went through this waiting time with us.  He often had "bad news" to give us, but he also sent us positive, encouraging messages. Late one Friday afternoon in what turned out to be midway through the house hunting process, he simply wrote the above text from Isaiah.  "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength . . ."  It seems as if we were always putting in offers about that time on a Friday.  He'd send a text about sending off our offer and then we'd have to wait all through the Sabbath hours and sometimes until late Sunday or even mid-morning on Monday.  We became quite practiced at waiting.  It wasn't easy, but that Biblical reminder of the value--even the blessing--of waiting on God was key in helping us survive this long summer of waiting.

Today, the final pieces are falling into place for what will be our new home come August 25.  My husband has an excellent job that he likes and the long summer of waiting is coming to a close.  There were many times when I thought that my strength would fail me, my energy would run out, my mental exhaustion would overwhelm me, and that yes, I might even faint under the weight of the wait.  But everything changes when you put it all in God's hands and wait on Him instead of everyone and everything else.  It may not feel like it is going your way.  But remember, God has His own timeline.  He knows when the timing is right.  We just have to be patient and wait to see how it all plays out.  That is when you can look back and see how your strength and your faith had been renewed at every disappointment.  They that wait will not regret it if they wait upon the Lord.