Saturday, August 11, 2007

worth the wait...

for the last month and a half or so, my niece, anna, has been waiting on a surprise promised to her by my dad (her "poppy" as she calls him :). 6 weeks is a very long time to wait on a promised surprise for a six year old (good grief, who am i kidding? it's a long time for anybody!) but especially a six year old little girl whose brothers have already received their surprise. now, my dad wasn't trying to prolong the wait or anything, i know for a fact he was in search of the perfect surprise for anna. daddy wanted to give the kids (andrew, daniel, and anna) something from him that they could keep...something that would always mean something to them. the boys gift was a given...what else do you give 12 and 10 year old boys that they will treasure forever? knives. yes, that is right, my dad bought them knives (which are kept out of their reach, by the way). well, last week sometime, daddy decided that he would give anna a locket (all girls love jewelry, you know;); so, he made the trek this morning to the jewelry store. i wasn't there when he gave anna the much anticipated surprise but was later told that after she opened it, daddy asked her, "anna, wasn't this worth the wait?" and she told him that it was. after my dad left my sister's house anna approached my sister and said, "mommy, what does 'worth the wait' mean?"
i think there are lots of things in life that we wait for and some of those things we anticipate the moment happening so often that we miss out on all the stuff that happens while we're waiting. God has been working in my life in a specific area...patience...and i hate to admit that in the last few days, i've failed miserably. so, today, after i heard anna's story i started thinking about whether or not i'm making times of waiting worthwhile. am i enjoying and savoring the small moments that happen or am i impatiently sitting on the sidelines missing life and lessons as they're passing me by. don't get me wrong, waiting times are important times but i want to focus not on the end result but on the lessons to be learned...while i'm waiting.

"waiting times are growing times and learning times. as you quiet your heart, you enter His peace...as you sense your weakness, you receive His strength...as you lay down your will, you hear His calling."

4 comments:

Angela Baylis said...

I really enjoyed this! I am with you when it comes to being patient! But... when we learn that everything happens in God's perfect timing it is truly "worth the wait".

Thanks for sharing!
I found you through To Know Him!
Love,
Angie xoxo

Angela Baylis said...

p.s. I think your blog is really cute!!!!!!!!

Shelly said...

Oh girl! May we enter into His presence for the peace that passes all understanding....such a good word. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

thanks for the good word amy. i was reminded of chris tomlin's "everlasting God".

"Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord..."

so true, just hard to remember sometimes. :)