The Waiting Game

I was talking to a friend last night, and we started discussing where we are in our lives. She's having a baby in January, and she and her husband are pretty excited about it! They're ready to meet him.

I've just begun the process of looking for a job, and am getting ready for my husband to come home TONIGHT!

It reminded me of a conversation I had with another friend (our wedding photographer) during my engagement. I had told her that if I had my way, Jeff and I would have eloped. I was tired of waiting to marry this man.

Then she told me something that changed my life. She told me that the waiting never ends. Our lives are designed in such a way that we're always waiting for something.

Waiting for a boyfriend
Waiting for him to propose
Waiting to marry him
Waiting for babies
Waiting for them to potty train
Waiting for retirement
Waiting for Jesus to return.

The word "wait" has such a negative connotation. No body likes to wait. We have bad attitudes about waiting (how many statuses did you read on Facebook about the voting lines people were in this past Tuesday? A lot). But I've come to realize that it's such a major part of our lives. We can either makes our lives miserable about the process of waiting, or we can use this time to do something! For your community, your church, your marriage, the Kingdom of God... The options are endless. It doesn't have to be a big project, but I firmly believe that we all need a purpose while we're waiting for the next season. If we put off doing something until we get what we're waiting for, we'll never do anything because we just start waiting for the next thing. It's a vicious cycle, really.

While I'm waiting for Jeff to come home, I can set up our house to make it feel like a home for us-- not just a place to live. While I'm waiting for a job, I can get involved in my church, or (dare I say it?) volunteer. I can use this time to mope around the house in my pajamas (like today...), or I can make a difference. Waiting shouldn't be our burden. Wasting our waiting time should be. So now it's your turn! What are you waiting for? And how are you waiting?