Perfect Timing

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven?" ( Eccl 3:1).

I hate waiting! A friend of mind posted a new status on Facebook last night that read something like, "Why is it when you go for fast food, that means placing your order, then moving forward to WAIT 15 minutes for it to be delivered?" I commented that I'd like to know where that place is so that I can avoid it. I hate waiting!

I love waiting. A couple of weeks ago, some friends and I went to dinner at a great restaurant downtown on the Country Club Plaza. We were told at the door there would be a 30 minute wait for our seats, and handed a plastic box that would buzz and flash when they were ready for us. Meanwhile, we were free to roam around the Plaza and enjoy the shops. We had such fun window shopping and talking during that time. I love waiting!

I hate waiting. Last week, I went in for my regular eye examination and arrived in plenty of time for my 8:30 am appointment. Nobody should have to wait when they take the first appointment in the morning, but wait I did, while I watched no less than eight other patients be called back to my doctor. Twenty minutes later, I finally heard my name called. I hate waiting.

I love waiting. We purchased tickets for an outdoor theater some time ago and arrived early for the show. It was a beautiful evening and there were snack shops all around the theater and good jazz music playing over the sound system. We sat on the hillside and talked and laughed for over an hour while we waited for the show to start. I love waiting.

I hate waiting. A year ago, my then five year old son was behind closed doors with virtual strangers for the fifth surgery of his very young life. Several friends and my pastor did their best to entertain me during the long 3 hour wait before I was called back to see him in recovery, but it was not fun, and while their company was appreciated, I really didn't enjoy the visit. I hate waiting.

I love waiting. Several years ago, we were privileged to host two ladies from Norway whose path had crossed ours in the Philippines. They were making a tourist trip to the USA and graced us with a 4-day visit to our home. When we went to the airport to meet them, we were told their airplane had been delayed in Minneapolis and would be 2 hours late. We decided to eat dinner in a nearby restaurant and ran into old friends while we were there, laughing and talking and catching up on old times. I love waiting.

What is it that makes some waiting a joy and some an absolute torture? Expectations, time constraints, fear, pleasure, anticipation, fatigue, hunger, good company, responsibility...all of these things can contribute to how we experience the never-ending certainty of waiting in our lives. I keep telling myself that I want to learn to slow down enough to live in the moment, but there are just some moments that are so pregnant with other things - like waiting in the dentists office for a needle to be shoved into your jaw - that it is impossible to enjoy the moment.

Oh, I know what people mean when they say "live in the moment," "Carpe Diem," "Sieze the day!" They're just encouraging us all to accept each day for what it is and do our best to appreciate it for what it is. But some moments are not supposed to be pleasurable, and I appreciate Solomon's acknowledgment of that: "There is a time for everything..." Some moments are meant to be pleasurable: "a time to be born...to plant... to heal...to laugh...to build...to dance...to embrace..." And some moments are just plain agony: "a time to die...to kill...to tear down...to weep...to give up...to hate...for war..." And some moments are a mix of pain and pleasure. Just ask the mother who has been in labor for 38 hours, waiting for that wondrous moment "to be born!"

This summer, we placed our house on the market in anticipation of a move to Mississippi to join a wonderful international ministry. Six weeks later, we are still waiting for that elusive buyer, cleaning house every other day to keep things in pristine condition (we can't wait to sell this house and move to a newer one), vacating the premises on a regular basis so that yet another stranger can look through our home (after all, it is still our home), wondering how long our new employer will patiently await our arrival before deciding that maybe God was not in it, after all, wondering if we will have enough in savings to hold us over until the changes have all been made. This waiting time has been agony.

But it has also been pleasure. As my friend, Angie, pointed out to me, we have had a good, long time to say goodbye and some very sweet things have happened while we have waited. Already, we have had several special occasions with friends for the express purpose of saying goodbye and "thanks for the memories." We are finding out just how much we have been loved in this community, and how much we have loved living here. On almost a daily basis, we play the game, "What are you going to miss about Blue Springs, Missouri?" and our litany of things we love grows longer each time. We have even had the opportunity to mend some fences and see the sweet, healing love of Christ at work in relationships that we had given up for lost.

There is a time for everything, and while I sometimes think it would be nice to see the schedule ahead of time, God has very good reasons why things are arranged just the way they are. And one of those reasons, in every circumstance, is so that I will learn to trust Him more. King David had apparently learned to rest in God's perfect scheduling when he said, "But I trust in you, O Lord; I say 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands." (Psalm 31:14-15)

There is no safer, no more comforting, no more joyous place to be while we are waiting than in the hands of God. Some days, some moments, I don't want to seize, I just want to see them go. But if I can remember that my times are in His hands and learn to lean back into His strong embrace, then perhaps the waiting will give way to rejoicing, every time, eventually.

There is a time for everything. And that's they way it's meant to be.