Welcome to the waiting room!
Let’s address the elephant in the room: I’m still waiting for my editor to finish work on both the prequel novella and book three in the upcoming series.
Still waiting for my turn to fix any issues, format them into something that actually resembles a book, and make plans for how to get it/them into your hands.
Which means you’re waiting too!
(Meanwhile, in a side note, I’m also waiting just a couple more weeks until I get to officially have two daughters-in-law. Waiting for another trip to the Branson area and down into Arkansas for my youngest son’s wedding. That’s the fun kind of waiting.)
Now, as I hinted at in the “preheader text” you might have seen in your email inbox, we all have to wait at some point in our lives.
Wait at red lights and train crossings. Wait at grocery store checkouts. Wait to go on a planned trip. Wait for school to start…or school to get out. Wait for a baby to be born. Wait for someone to respond to our text, phone call, email, or letter.
Recently, I had a progressive chain of waiting for medical stuff. A routine text had an unusual side thing show up on the results so my doctor asked me to come in for a chat.
I had to wait for that appointment, then wait for the follow-up test she requested, wait for those results (which cleared the first potential problem BUT showed something else new and concerning), wait for the next test to be approved by insurance, wait for the scheduled appointment, wait in that waiting room for the test to start, and then wait for several slow days for the final results. Results that basically said “hmm, let’s monitor this and check back in six months.”
So now I’m waiting again. But this time I’m not just sitting around doing nothing. I’m changing my habits and taking a few new supplements and paying attention to things differently than I did before.
I’m reminded of a farmer planting seeds and then waiting for the harvest. I think we’d all agree that there has to be a gap in between for seeds to sprout, plants to grow, fruit to develop, and crops to mature.
But a farmer doesn’t sit around sipping lemonade and twiddling thumbs. He still has things to do like water and weed and check for invading pests.
And pray.
Because so many things are out of his control. The weather and storms and locusts and drought and global market shifts that affect prices and equipment breaking down…?
Life in the waiting room is a unique mixture of patience and prayer alongside faithful activity.
Sometimes we’re preparing like shopping for the mother of the groom dress or packing a suitcase. Sometimes we’re buying supplies (before school starts) or getting the homework done and studying for tests (before school lets out.) Sometimes we’re multi-tasking like using that grocery store line to reply to a text from a friend.
(Or, like me right now in book world, using the time to catch up on all the random tasks and things that have piled up on my to-do list and cluttered desk. After all, there’s nothing else I can do right now since I don’t quite want to dive into a new story and immediately stop it for the wedding and above-mentioned fixes and formatting and plans…)
Waiting can be an active time.
But sometimes the waiting is quieter as our faith grows alongside a deeper trust in the One who’s holding it all together. ?The One who promised to always be there and to work everything together for our eventual good. The One who’s growing that seed into fruit and will complete the good things He starts.
So while we’re all waiting for something, I’d like to leave you with a few theme songs to carry you through.
“While I’m Waiting” by John Waller (video features scenes from the movie Fireproof which I highly recommend as an inspirational example of praying for healing in a broken relationship) – It’s a reminder that I can still worship and serve and be obedient even while I’m waiting for that answer to prayer. (Or just listen on Spotify here.)
“While I Wait” by Lincoln Brewster – Sometimes miracles take time, but I can still worship and trust. (That link is for the official music video, but you can listen on Spotify here.)
And one last one: “Don’t Stop Praying” by Matthew West – What’s your impossible that needs a miracle? (Spotify here.)
What about you? What are you waiting for? How are you staying busy in the waiting room of life? Is there a faith-boosting theme song I forgot to mention?
