Wait! Just Wait....

I feel like God has been constantly telling me something all weekend.  He keeps telling me to wait.  For what?  I know not.  But I have to wait.


Yesterday my family (husband and kids) went for a walk in the park.  It was a loooonnggg walk.  It was a sort of one way walk.  We were wondering as we were walking how far we could go, I had to remind  him that we still had to walk back, so as far as we walk straight, double that, because we'd have to turn around and walk back to the car, make sense?  Anyway, for those Mississaugans, we walked from Burnhamthorpe to Dundas, and then had to go back.  On the way back Josiah woke up from his nap and constantly wanted uppy or would run and stop and look at rocks and want to play in the mud or play on the slant that the bridge has.  He would run up and down and up and down the bridge.  Bikers would go around him, people would smile at him, he was having fun.  Me and Joel were not.  We were tired, we just wanted to go to the car.  I kept reminding Joel that we went to the park for Josiah anyway so he could have some fresh air, but after 30 minutes of standing by the bridge waiting for Josiah to tire out, we picked him up and left.  On our way back Josiah had at least 5 tantrums and Joel had to carry him over half the way back to the car.  It was tiring, it was stressful and it was tiring.

We were 2 minutes away from the car, and when you see your destination you have this sudden spurt of energy to just go go go.  I wasn't that tired, but I wasn't the one carrying Josiah.  Joel, on the other had, said his legs were burning and he just wanted to sit.  We reached a huge puddle in the middle of the pathway, but there were also two little paths on either side that led around the puddle.  As we were approaching it, there were two other ladies crossing on one side (a smooth, wide, and flat path) and I saw that the path on the other side was all bumpy with tree roots, was more narrow and was on a slight incline.  I was pushing Mateo in the stroller and Josiah's stroller was also attached to Mateo's, so me, being a little more patient and a lot less tired than Joel, decided to wait for the two ladies to pass on the other side, instead of going over all the bumpy tree roots and falling in the puddle.  Joel, unfortunately, is much less patient, and was more tired than me, he decided to pull the stroller through the bumpiness of the tree roots.

It was what I would say an epic fail.  The whole time I was screaming "Wait! Just Wait!" and he was pulling me and the strollers through the inclined and bumpy and much more narrower path.  What else would happen.......I tripped on a tree root, my foot slid in the mud and the strollers upturned.  If Mateo wasn't buckled in, he would have face planted.  My children, they sleep like logs.  We put the stroller back upright, and Mateo went back to sleep (what a guy).  Anyway, I wasn't mad at all.  I knew Joel was tired and just wanted to go back to the car, but during that whole trek through the narrow and bumpy path I was screaming "Wait, wait, wait!" but he wasn't listening and was determined to go forward.  Had we waited 5 more seconds, I could have went on the smooth path that the ladies were walking on and we would have gotten across the puddle much faster than rushing through the other bumpy way.  I know Joel felt bad for literally dragging me through the mud (and I have a boo boo on my finger) and I'm pretty sure he learned his lesson (when I say wait, he should WAIT).  And surprisingly, I wasn't mad at all.  The important thing was that the kids were both fine and at the end of the day, that's what really matters (in my mind).

What did I learn?  I learned that sometimes, it is better to wait.  Actually, a lot of the time it is better to wait.  There were two paths, one wide, one narrow.  one bumpy, one smooth.  One was on a bit of a slant and the other was flat.  Sometimes we are in such a rush that we don't bother to see both paths, we take the first convenient path in life and we fall.  This is a lesson that I constantly learn and constantly have to teach my children and husband.  Good things come to those who wait.

Josiah, who is now in his terrible twos, has inherited his dad's patience, or lack of.  When he's hungry he'll say "banana" or "apple" and both need to be peeled or cut.  So when he asks for it, I get it and I start to cut or peel it.  Josiah can't wait for that.  He decides to go on the floor, scream and cry and kick, and then go in time out for 10 minutes until he stops crying, and then he will get the food.  Essentially, if he just waited 2 minutes, he would get what he asked for, but instead he chooses to wait 15.  He saw the food, he wanted it.  How is he going to eat an unpeeled banana?  Even gorillas peel their bananas!

We don't get everything we want right away, and that's what most of the world needs to learn.  Impatient people who don't have money, rob the bank, or go into debt maxing out credit cards.  Why go broke when you could just wait, earn the money, save the money and then go buy what you need.  Life is a waiting game and a lot of people lose.

A plant takes time to grow, babies take time to grow.  Why are we fast forwarding life?  Enjoy the now, and trust God with the future.  Wait for God to make His plans for you.  Wait for Him to show you what He wants you to do in life.  Don't rush anything.

I was looking up verses on "waiting" in the Bible and I came across this Bible Study about patience and waiting.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/theology/081112.html?start=1

It's called "The Secret of Waiting" and it gives reasons on why we should wait and how we should wait on God.

"Waiting on God may be the most difficult of all the spiritual disciplines, and perhaps that's the reason so few truly practice it. Just sitting in his presence and gazing … it can be agonizing to us who have become accustomed to being bombarded with data and stimuli. We lack the attention span to wait on God. But he knows that, so in his kindness he designs scenarios that will help us learn how to wait on him. Once we press through and cross the boredom threshold, we open to the joys and adventures of waiting on God."

I think that this is difficult for today's generation because of all the technology around us.  It is agonizing to wait, for anything!  I pray, that for myself and my family, we all learn the power or patience in all things we do.