The other day I had a friend who suggested, as he was waiting for his sick wife in the doctor's office that "...when you're done kicking cancers a&$ you should writing [sic] a book on waiting." (via @adamdolhanyk) I don't know if I could write a whole book on waiting... quite frankly if you are waiting for me to write a book on waiting... you might be waiting a while. If I do get around to writing a book though it's posible there might be a chapter on waiting.
I've been thinking a bit lately about waiting as it seems to pop "its" ugly head up a lot in my life. Currently in the long term I am waiting for a solution to the cancer issue. I'm waiting to get back to my job which I love so much and get excited by. In the short term I wait as I get chemo. I wait in the doctor's office, I wait in traffic, I wait to feel better post-chemo, wait, wait, wait.
Not like I think anyone is perfect at managing their time, or have the ability to deal with the waiting game perfectly. A lot of the time waiting is offset by multitasking and doing something else while you wait for the other something else to finish. In my situation, and many other's like it that isn't possible. It's a linear thing that can't be offset by something like doing chemo while I wait to see the doctor. But sometimes I have been known to combine some work with waiting to recovery from chemo.
On Sunday at church we talked about waiting. Acts 24:27 was the crux of the conversation which led to Acts 25 - 27. The three chapters towards the end of Acts details what the culmination of Paul's years of waiting in jail. I don't know what's at the end of my long waiting, but God knows, and He has me waiting for some reason. I guess the only reason I can see for waiting right now is refinement. I'm learning while waiting. A lot like college I should think. Waiting to finish classes so I can get out into the "real world", yet not always sure what that will look like or what classes I should be taking right now and/or studying for.
It's not often fun to wait... but dealing with waiting seems to be a large part of how we deal with life and the way other perceve us. Thank you for your continued support. I hope you find something valuable in these blog entries!
~B.
[ Prayer request? ]
How could you do a whole blog about waiting without once mentioning Inigo Montoya?
ReplyDeleteYou just saw it....
ReplyDeleteWaiting seems to be the lesson of more than one Morrell right now. I find that sometimes it is easier to do than other times. I do believe that the Lord teaches His most precious lessons to those He requires to wait.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard of Ruth Myers? She was a Nav missionary years ago. I'm reading a book she wrote several years ago called, "The Perfect Love." (She also wrote "31 Days of Praise.") In the second chapter or so of her book, she told her life story. Man, she is a woman who learned much in the University of Waiting. But the book is not about waiting, it's about God's love for us. I would highly recommend it. (By the way, she is no longer waiting--she graduated from this life last year on Beth's birthday.) She was an amazing saint.
Oh, I just realized that we are in UW! Hey, maybe I'll have a degree someday after all!!
My EMI group leader's wife was Ruth Myer's assistant towards the end of her life! So I have a signed copy of "31 Days of Praise" - definitely in my top ten devotionals :)
ReplyDeleteI've also done the "Discovering God's Will" devotional which she co-wrote with her husband, and is mostly about God's general will for all believers - they tie scriptures together so well :)