Why Wait?

This summer has been the summer of waiting.  In October we hired someone to build a new deck by our pool.  Our old deck had been built by my husband and I close to ten years ago.  It had seen better days especially considering we truly didn't know what we were doing in the first place.  My husband and one of our friends spent a rainy Saturday in October taking apart the old deck and hauling it away.  We then told our deck guy we were ready and we waited.  Apparently the time frame for getting a deck done is nine months.  Had I been a younger gal I would have gotten pregnant and we could have raced to see who got to the finish line first.  I keep joking that I could have given birth in that time frame.

Our Deck was ready for use for our fourth of July party.  The pool heater that we have been waiting to get fixed was not and will not be.  It apparently wasn't the "easy" fix that we had all hoped it would be.  It now must be replaced.  At this point in a rainy Midwestern summer that can wait until next year.  We also waited two weeks for our air conditioner to get fixed.

Now we are waiting to go on vacation.  This summer has been rainy and trying our patience with all of the waiting for things that we had hoped would make this a great summer.  We are more than ever ready to get away for a short time and have a break from waiting.  The wait will be over and the fun will arrive.

In thinking about this summer of waiting it has gotten me thinking about waiting in other areas of life as well.  We wait to meet the right partner to share our lives with.  We wait nine months for a baby (or a deck apparently).  We wait for school to end and our lives to begin.  We wait for vacations.  We wait for seating at restaurants.  We wait in line to ride rides.  We wait for movies.  We wait for books.  We wait.

That is a lot of time waiting for things that some matter and some don't.  I have spent much of my summer frustrated and waiting for things to be accomplished and I could have spent that time in a much better way.  For that I am sorry.  We think when the deck is done we can invite people over.  When the house is clean and close to perfect we can invite people over.  When this show is over we'll do something.

I don't know about you but I'm so sick of waiting.  Waiting is for the birds.  Spending all of your time waiting is a waste of time.  What could you do if you weren't waiting?  Personally the only thing I want to wait for is for Jesus.  Jesus coming is the only thing I can think of that is worth waiting for.  I don't want to spend so much time waiting that I don't spend it living.  You can spend time worrying and waiting for things to change in the world around you or you can be the change you want to see.  It is a choice.  You know what happens when you wait?  Life happens.  Life happens and you miss out.  You miss out on things you could have done and places you could have seen and people you could have spent time with. You know what else?  It's boring.

I have wanted to put some funky color in my hair for years.  I never did because I have daughters who would throw a fit every time I talked about it.  I have wanted some cool plastic framed glasses but everyone else likes the wire frames better on me.  I wanted to try archery just because I wanted to see if I could be like Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games or Mia from The Princess Diaries 2.  I talk myself out of doing things because I think I'm too old and I should sit back and not live because it is my children's turn and not mine.  My time has come and gone.  You know what that is?  A big bunch of fear and crap.

Today I had just a few bright red highlights put in my hair.  The eye place ordered the wrong glasses by mistake so I got the plastic frames I had wanted but let myself get talked out of.  This summer my daughter and I went to a garage sale at my friend's house and her husband taught us how to shoot a bow and arrow.  What am I teaching my children if I don't do things because they (and I) think I'm old?  That when you get old you don't get to dream or live?  What kind of message is that?  A bad one.  If I want my children to spend their lives dreaming and chasing their dreams and trying new things I have to be willing to do that myself.  If not the only thing I am teaching them is to give up.

If I truly believe in God and his teachings then I have to believe that even if I can't do something then I can do it with his help.  Philippians 4:13 says "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  That is more than just a saying to put on a t-shirt.  It's factual.  I believe that it applies to everyone who believes in Him.  That's me.  That's you.  How awesome and reassuring is that when it comes to pursuing the dreams that God has placed in your heart to begin with?

So what are we waiting for.  Waiting is not how we should be spending our lives.  We need to be living them.  Plus apparently I'm middle aged now. I need to get busy before my time really does run out.  So get going already!  In the words of Ferris Beuller "Why are you still here? It's over.  Go!"

Until next time...