Waiting

May 29, 2021                        

I went bike riding today and as I rode up to an intersection, I had to push the walk button and wait for the walk sign before I could cross.  I HATE waiting.  Sometimes I have to wait for a whole minute (poor me)!  As I waited today, I thought about the word “wait” and what it means.  Waiting implies doing nothing.  It suggests something better is coming but is not here yet.  You are in limbo—not in the present—but looking forward to (or fearing) the future.  

When I am waiting, I get impatient.  I’m not happy.  I’m bored, fearful, excited, stressed, hopeful—all sorts of emotions.

                      

Some mornings when I’m walking instead of riding my bike, and I have to wait at the intersection for the light to change, I jog in place so I can keep my heart rate up.  I’m not going forward across the street, but I’m not just idly standing there either and becoming impatient. I’m doing something.  That made me start to ponder about different things I could do or should do while I am waiting in life for a future event to happen.

While I was waiting for the pandemic to be over, what was I doing?  I knew at the time that I would not want to look back on this novel year and feel like I had wasted it.  So I waited actively by spending a lot more time reading and pondering my scriptures, listening to Come Follow Me podcasts, walking and hiking, practicing my banjo and ukulele a lot, reading a ton of books and learning how to “artfully doodle” (art journaling).  Sometimes I felt like I was just jogging up and down, not really going anywhere, just trying to keep my skills up but other times I felt like I was progressing and moving forward.

The word “waitress” has wait as it’s root word.  A waitress serves her customers.  She asks what they need, how she can help them, and then she tries to quickly fulfill their requests.  She is hoping for a nice tip.

In Isaiah 40:31 it says, “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.” This certainly does not sound like a passive way of waiting.  If we are waiting on the Lord we are seeking to find out what His will is and how we can help.  By reading our scriptures we can hear Him as He asks us to find His lost sheep and bring souls to Him.  And what will our tip be?  Renewed strength, wings to fly, running without being weary and walking and not fainting.  Wow, what a tip!

Now I’m beginning to rethink my definition of the word--wait. It means I am active while looking forward to an upcoming event or season of life, or an upcoming journey or accomplishment.  It is not passive like I used to think.  I use to tie it to the phrase, “endure to the end”.  But waiting and enduring should imply faithfully DOING.  It means actively BECOMING.  And when it is coupled with a cheerful and grateful heart, it will propel me—a better me--toward a beautiful future.

Thanks for reading,

Cathy

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