Have you ever been so excited about something, that you tell someone about it without even thinking about whether or not you should actually tell them?
Ok, so I totally did that this past week. Kennedi and Brooklyn love their family and they love any and every opportunity to visit with them. Since we live far from our family (my family lives in California and BJ’s family lives in NC), times we spend together is really priceless. One of our girls favorite place to visit is their Grammie & Poppie’s house in North Carolina. When I say they love it, they love it!!
I had worked out a plan with Beth, my mother in law, for the girls to be able to stay with them for 2 weeks! ( kind of gives me a little breakdown, thinking about being away from them that long, can all my mommy friends say, AMEN!!) As soon as we confirmed pick up & drop off times and all the fun details, I ran into the girls room and yelled, “Girls, you’re going to Grammie and Poppie’s house next week!”
It was as though I saw the words coming out of my mouth and before I could retract my statement, celebratory hugs and kisses were happening and there was no turning back. Seeing my girl’s excitement anytime they get to be with their family is priceless for me and I wanted to bring them a little joy that morning! In the midst of my excitement for that, I completely forgot that 4 year olds hardly have a concept of time. After all, my daughter Brooklyn told our waitress the other day, that she hadn’t had water in 2 weeks! Haha.
So, for the past 7 days, I have been asked, “Is it now time to go to Grammie & Poppie’s house?” About a bazillion times. After every nap, car ride and even trip to the bathroom, I’ve been drilled about it by these little humans. I have no idea, honestly, how many times I went down the list of events that needed to occur in order for the day to finally be here.
No matter how many times I tried, their excitement and impatience got the best of them. As I stood in my kitchen, washing dishes and regretting my decision to jump the gun and tell the girls, I had a BLOG moment.
We are a lot like 4 year old, anxious little girls waiting for the day they get to go to their grandparents house! Whether it’s a special someone we are waiting to meet, a job promotion we are seeking or a miracle we are believing God for, waiting can be exhausting, discouraging and consuming.
When I had to explain to Kennedi and Brooklyn that it was “not time” yet, it usually resulted in tears! Why couldn’t going to Grammie and Poppie’s house be today, right now. No matter how many times they asked, whether they responded well to the reality of it not being time, or not, there was still a waiting period. Time didn’t speed up or even slow down, time passed at its normal rate. 24 hours passed for 7 days, before I carried their cute little selves to the car in the wee hours of the morning, yesterday.
Waiting is not always easy, but it doesn’t have to be miserable. Kennedi and Brooklyn spent so much time crying and being upset this past week that they didn’t even take a chance to get excited about what they were waiting for.
So often, we get caught up in the waiting that we overlook the present. We miss the moments that are exciting, the moments that God has orchestrated for us to experience. Just like my girls, how they waited didn’t determine for how long they waited, just determined, how they waited.
I am not sure what it is that you are waiting for, but I want to encourage you today, to embrace the wait! Don’t drag yourself through, but instead, be fully present in your now! If you’re putting on a facade of “waiting patiently” in hopes to hurry along the process, I encourage you to fully embrace the reality, that every good thing comes from God. The husband you are hoping to meet, the promotion you are seeking or the miracle you are believing for, happen, not because our good deeds. These things come to us, when we place our trust and confidence in Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. When we do, we will embrace the wait and when THAT day finally comes, it will be the icing on the cake not the whole enchilada.
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