it’s the waiting.

Sometimes I fall upon previous posts I’ve written at just the right time to be able to preach to myself a little.

It’s funny how life works out like that.  (Sort of like my iPod shuffle -eh?)

We have a little touch of the limbo happening at our house – a little waiting for some details to work out for Riley for college in the fall, a little waiting for some ebb and flow to work out with Noble Fox, a little waiting for some decisions to make as a family.

I wrote this when my now nine-year-old gift-giving son was just a short-haired four-ish year old.

And it was perfect for my morning jumble of thoughts and my touch of procrastination.

So I’m sharing it below and speaking directly to myself.

_________________

Sometime in the less-than-distant past, this event occurred at our home.

It was bed time.

Some friends were over.

Bergen wanted Nate to fly him to bed like a superhero.  (Because Nate can do that, you know.)

But Nate was busy.

So Bergen began to wait.

Impatiently.

He cried out Nate’s name.

Loudly.

Repetitively.

Nate told Bergen he would be right there in just a minute.

But Bergen didn’t care.

He just kept crying out in a sobbing voice, “Naaaay-Aaaate”.

Over and over.

Increasing in volume each time.

Nate was not ignoring Bergen.

He had every intention of entering the living room, scooping Bergen up Superman-style, and making a grand exit to the bed.

Bergen didn’t need to cry.

He didn’t need to scream.

He didn’t need to do anything.

He just needed to wait.

To sit still.

His turn was coming.

The Superman lift was approaching.

And the funny thing is, Nate, being the kind pal that he is, planned to meet Bergen’s request.

Bergen was going to head to bed lifted high in Nate’s arms.

Whether he sat patiently

or bellowed loudly.

The end result was the same.

Crying didn’t get Nate there more quickly.

It just made Berg unhappy and miserable while he waited.

(And bothered everyone around him as well.)

I’m pretty sure that for most of our lives we sound a lot like Bergen did that night.

I know I do.

We are just screaming for the next thing, the good thing, the end we desire.

Just shouting off and crying out and making ourselves unhappy and damaging the experience of all those around us.

Being miserable

while we wait.

It’s what we do.

Making others miserable

while we wait.

I’ve been guilty.

And the funny thing is, God has every intention of meeting our need.

He’s at the end.

He is the end.

The truth is

that end is going to happen

regardless of the manner in which we choose to wait.

Regardless of how we sit in our chair.

Regardless of our screaming.

I can be just like Bergen was that night.

But I don’t want to be.

I don’t want to sit

crying and screaming

waiting for the next thing.

I’d like my waiting to be a tad more patient, to look a lot more gracious, to be a bit more proactive.

Because maybe it really is

the waiting

that defines us anyway.