Waiting

Being Led to Still Water

9x12 oil 2022

Waiting. Not something I like to do. It represents a place in time where everything stops.

I'm waiting, just now, for my husband's fourth orthopedic surgery on his knee and then I’ll wait for the message he’s in recovery. I’ll wait to see if the surgery was successful. We both will be waiting weeks for full recovery (if it comes).

We all have waiting to do. Sometimes we are waiting for test results, waiting to exhale, waiting to fall in love, waiting to be pregnant, waiting for the right job, or house, or simply waiting for the green light (literally or metaphorically).

Waiting has the potential to tie my heart in knots. And like now, worry has arrived to sit beside waiting. These two never make good company.  I’m waiting for my prayers to be answered. And they will be, just maybe not the way I thought.

Waiting with worry causes my mind to skip ahead and deliver “bad news“ before I receive anything at all. My mind wanders down a road of woe and I constantly have to ask God to settle me.

This time it feels weighty. Worry shreds my hope and I’m having difficulty believing it will be OK. Forgive me, Father.

Waiting… Stops forward motion and gives me time to pause and be still. Waiting… I’m finding, can be “hallowed ground“, so I‘m taking off my shoes and stepping into the arms of the Almighty.  Just thinking these thoughts calms me to my core and replaces my worry with peace...

... even though I’m still waiting.

What are you waiting for?