I love the song, "Waiting On A Woman" that Brad Paisley sings. In fact, I enjoy most of his songs. They have a way of defining truth and reality with a dose of humor. He sometimes swings from one pendulum to the other; sometimes he has a lot of funny, other times he has a very sentimental slant. Anyway...I like his music and I really like "Waiting On A Woman."
Waiting. I have never been so good at waiting. I think in this country and lifestyle we are accustomed to, not a lot of people these days like it, either. It's a part of life that must be faced, in every area of life, however.
In the physical world. No-one jumps on the elliptical and starts a 45 minute work-out. If you have not been to the gym in over a year, the most you will do on that machine is 3 minutes tops. If you are being honest and want to get out of bed tomorrow morning!
In the educational world. Diploma's from any schooling, training certificate's, Continuing Education Units, even PhD's of any kind (including mothering and the School of Hard Knocks) require a wait.
In the spiritual world. It's the same. The qualities one wishes to possess, like maturity, wisdom and strength come from waiting. My teacher in a six month class on learning to live with better "life skills" I attended used to say, "Time is your friend." I hated that saying. Now I know it's the truth.
I ran across a quote from Oswald Chambers. "He works where He sends us to wait." I love that. So simple, yet so profound. As I pondered the quote I immediately thought of my 5 blessings from God, my children. The thought I had was the 4 years of infertility and practically a lifetime of wanting to be a "Mommy." He is definitely working where He made me wait for those awesome gifts! (I might add 2 of those gifts are ages 13 and 14! Help!) Parenting is one of the most challenging things I have ever waited so long for! Case in point.
The Lord immediately brought to my mind another example of waiting. Waiting in a doctor's office. A very practical yet common practice we have probably all had, and most likely dread. Why? Because we have little to no control, we need to be there and if we blow this chance at waiting we will have another chance to do it all over again. Amazing, the spiritual undertone here.
My waiting room experience...just one of thousands, that I would like to discuss was just about a month ago. I was taking Sarah Grace for a well check. She was not sick, no-one was, believe it or not. We also had no place to go. We had just eaten, had a potty break and relatively happy.
I wanted to be purposeful in maintaining the peace and joy that morning. We really all needed a good day. Desperately. After parking the car, I discussed the rules of engagement. Inside voices, holding my hand until we reached our destination and the possibility of a Dollar Tree reward if the visit was successful. After I adjusted shoes, headbands and bows, I felt confident we were going to win this battle. So in great confidence we marched forward ready to tackle the Pediatrician's office.
Some of you may think I might be a tad over dramatic in using words like, battle, rules of engagement, and marching. If you are someone thinking this, there are a couple of categories you may fall in. One, you have very passive, pleasing, quiet or medicated children. Two, you have no children. Three, you have an only child. Four, you don't have my children! The only other option is that you have never observed our family in a waiting room, because if you had, you would KNOW that those words are not dramatic in any way shape or form.
We had been there, in the waiting room less than 5 minutes. We were early by 15 minutes, simply unheard of with my personality, circumstances and the type of children the Lord chose to bless me with. Lily and Sarah were sitting down and reading a book. The room seemed quiet and ordered.
1o minutes in, paperwork was filled out, insurance cards copied and not one child had experienced a melt down, freak out or episode. This was to be a banner day! We are going to be called back any minute and this will be one of the most successful trips to see the Pediatrician we have ever had. Dollar Tree, here we come.
The mood in the waiting room was overly pleasant. I was smiling and happy to see my children behaving so well. I was admiring the art on the wall above the "Well Area" and decided to show off my art skills. This peace and joy thing, was making me feel a little creative flair emerging. The cow and giraffe hanging on the wall were just too cute. I love little red barns and simply adore the whole farm animal motif. I found a pencil and piece of paper to sketch on.
The kids looked at Mommy intensely looking at the art work, looking up, studying the animals and transferring it onto my paper. Things were starting to take shape on my "canvas." The kids were huddled over me. Squeals of laughter and happiness were flowing freely. We were living in the moment while waiting... in a germ infected, sick children, give me a can of Lysol, please, doctor's office.
The next time I looked at the clock, it had been 45 minutes. I am not kidding. I walked up to the desk ever so politely and the nurse said, "I am so sorry. You should be next. This is ridiculous." I just smiled and said, "No problem." I thought to myself, "Good, I have time to finish the zebra now!"
We did not get into that coveted room for another 20 minutes. And guess what, it was okay. In fact, it was more than okay. We had patiently waited and enjoyed, relished and made a happy family memory there in that waiting room. In fact, the staff seemed quite impressed with my artistic skills and so were my 2 older girls once we arrived back home.
I enjoy walking into that waiting room now. I hold my head high and know that my artistic skills were not the only thing the staff was impressed with. I handled that situation with grace and poise and gave a good Christian witness. Not something I can always say, even in good situations. I even made memories with Sarah and Lily. I do not even have to identify myself anymore when calling the office. They know my voice and seem to always be more than willing to extend me favor.
Waiting. Is waiting a divine appointment? An opportunity to reveal your character? A chance at making some memories? Perhaps a teachable moment? Yes, we won the battle that day. Onward Christian soldiers march, even if it's in place!
