What We Do While Waiting

Happy Thursday friends. Let’s talk about waiting. And autumn. :)

Although waiting is not is a thing that looks the same for everyone, it most certainly is something we all experience.

I’ve been thinking a lot this about the past few months, about how waiting such a universal thing is. Also I’ve been thinking about the question of why we wait for things, what is the purpose of that time in our lives? If you think about times in your own life you’ve spent waiting—whatever you waiting for were, however long for—looking back at that time, did you learn anything while you waiting were?

Of course, the most obvious answer to this question is patience. But I don’t think patience is that simple. I mean, what is patience? Because when I think of patience I see someone sitting with their hands folded, perfectly calm, waiting for the next thing, without fear or worry of what comes next. I don’t know about you, but I don’t anticipate that I’ll ever learn how to do that. I’m not very good at sitting still, and I certainly am never perfectly calm.

But I do wonder if patience is something different…if it is more how we view waiting, and how we use waiting.

So what did you learn while waiting? How about this for example, did you start to notice and be grateful for the little things right in front of you while you were waiting, because it was so overwhelming and frustrating constantly thinking about what you were waiting for? Maybe it started out as a distraction but became a practice that ended up encouraging you in your life since. Or maybe you started notice how other people around you waiting are? One waits to someday have a child, another is waiting for her wedding day, another is waiting to start a treatment that will wreck their body but hopefully save their life, another is waiting and hoping to soon help her daughter leave the hospital after months there, another is waiting until her baby’s past the stage of waking her up constantly in the night. Or maybe, during the waiting, you realized all the things you can do within waiting—maybe a job, a hobby, or some service to others—which mean that all along while you waiting were, you also learning and growing were and using that time of waiting for good.

These are just a few examples, and maybe your times of waiting look different, maybe you’ve learned different things during them. (I’d love to hear about that if you want to put it in a comment).

For me over the past five years, waiting has looked like waiting for a doctor to pay attention to what has happened to me and look for answers, waiting to try a new medication, see if it works, then try the next one if it doesn’t. Really, overall, waiting for things to start getting better for me physically, instead of worse. And I’ve been learning throughout it that for me, waiting has been the Lord teaching me that He will provide what I need in all things exactly when I need it. That’s the big overarching waiting.

But within it are smaller waitings. A simple thing I wait all year for here in Texas is for the weather to begin to cool. Due to my illness I’m unable to exist safely in any temperature above around 76º, and the sun is my arch nemesis. When the weather begins to cool below that it feels like my soul comes alive. Being outside is magic. And having to wait that for all year makes me more greatly rejoice when it comes.

Of course, here in Texas, we don’t get fall leaves and colors, but that doesn’t stop me from painting them. I’ve had a few opportunities my life in to experience fall colors, and every time they enchant me. So here’s an autumn collage by way of rounding off this post. (If you are on mobile you can click to zoom in to better read the labels of each thing if you are so inclined).

So that’s a bit about waiting, with some autumn cheer tied in. I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories about times you’ve spent waiting. Leave a comment below if you’d like to share. Soli Deo Gloria friends.