Waiting

I love waiting. It's hard, and hurts a bit, but then the object of the waiting tastes all the sweeter. Tonight I'm waiting for Michael to get to Iowa. Well, I think he may actually be in Iowa already, but he's still 2 hours away from me. It's 10:22pm and I should probably be in bed, but instead, I'm sitting on the couch passing time until my hubby arrives. The girls are asleep. Rebekah's in the guest room where Michael and I will sleep tonight, Naomi's in the office-moved up from the basement so that her Uncle David can crash on the fouton. There's gluten-free bread in the freezer and fresh sheets on the beds. I am ready for their arrival. All I have left to do is wait.

We've been doing a lot of waiting the past few years. In 2003, we were dating long-distance and waiting to live in the same city. In 2004 we lived in the same city but waited to get married. Until 2007 we waited for me to graduate from college so that Michael could go back to school. Then we waited for him to finish. In the meantime we got pregnant with Naomi and waited for her to come. She came, and we waited for Michael to find work. We moved to Mass into a temporary home and waited to find a house. We bought a home, moved in, and waited for Rebekah to come. We thought there might be a rest from the waiting after her arrival. Nope. While waiting for Rebekah it became apparent that God was moving us away from Heritage Bible Chapel. But where and when? We waited.

God provided Community Bible Church in Mt. Vernon for a candidacy visit. They extended the offer to visit. We declined. We had to wait until Rebekah was 6 weeks old to fly. She came 2 weeks late, and then we waited the 6 weeks. We visited, and then waited for the church to vote. The vote came, we decided to move, and then we waited until we could share our news with the body of Heritage. That wait was short, just a few weeks. But it felt so, so long. With the news out, we planned the details of the move and waited for it to come. Here I sit, 1 week into my 2 week stay at Mom and Dad's...waiting for Michael. Waiting for Saturday when we will move to Mt. Vernon into our temporary in-law suite. We'll move in, and probably wait until God directs us into a more permanent home.

There will always be things to wait for. Large and small, always something. God teaches us to wait. I try to teach Naomi to wait...wait for her supper to cool down, wait for me to feed Rebekah before I can play with her. It's tough to teach a 20 month old to wait. Good thing her mommy's had lots of practice.

I'm glad God is teaching me to wait. For waiting goes hand-in-hand with being a believer in Jesus Christ. He is coming again! And we "groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom 8:23) and "wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1:7). It might ache a bit to wait here for my husband when I haven't seen him for 9 days, but the ache to meet my Savior is deep and life-changing. Again, He is calling my attention heavenward, and honoring His promise  to "keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you" (Is 26:3).

Glory to God.