Tuesday, March 9, 2010

waiting...

The other day we stopped off at John's work to pick him up for lunch, and ended up waiting 30 minutes before he finally came out. While we were just sitting there, and to appease the doldrums of waiting, I snapped this picture of myself with my phone. I guess I wanted to see what my 'bored' face looked like.



After messing around with my phone for far too long, changing Asher's poopy diaper, and easing the kids' hunger pangs (by shoving candy in their mouths)...I surprisingly, still had time to do some pondering. While we waited, my wandering mind got to thinking about how much of my life is spent just waiting. Waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting on hold with the Dr's office...or the cell phone company...or whomever, waiting for John to get home from work, waiting for the weekend, waiting for test results, waiting for my children's obnoxious phases to end, waiting for summer to come, waiting for the next vacation, waiting for the sun to rise...waiting for this, waiting for that.

And then I really got to thinking about the world we live in...how fast-paced it has become, how instantly we need to be gratified, how restless and sometimes even annoyed we become when confronted with even the slightest delay. But isn't it good to have to wait for things? I think so. It teaches us patience. It teaches us self-restraint. It teaches us to really love and appreciate - all the more - that which we have waited for once it finally becomes ours. I think the most important thing to remember, is to not become stagnant while we wait. We should never stop going, and doing, and moving, and loving...we should never stop living.

I got a letter a couple of months back from a dear sweet sister in my ward. The same week our ward fasted for me, they also fasted for her. Her cancer had progressed to the point where she was bed-ridden and extremely ill. A few days after the fast, I received this letter from her, and would like to share just a portion of it which has had a profound impact on my life:
Being ill has taught me how precious living is; the greatest miracle of all, and is ours to enjoy every day.

A couple of weeks after I received this beautiful letter, dear sweet Jackie passed away. Even though I immediately wrote her back, I doubt she realized the lesson she taught me before she was taken from this earth. While she lay in bed, possibly 'waiting' to die, she mustered up every ounce of energy she possessed to write me a note, admonishing the enjoyment and amplification of life. Imagine that...serving to the very end. She reminded me, indirectly, of something I have always known but seem to forget on a daily basis...it's that amidst the delays, it's important to keep on living, and loving, and serving; and that before we know it, the vexatious waiting will be over. The last thing I want to do is wish and wait my life away.

So while I 'wait' for John to get home from work, rather than killing time on the internet, taking pointless self-portraits of myself, or mindlessly watching as the second hand circles it's way around the clock; I think I'll grab my kids...we have some laughing, loving, and living to do.

7 comments:

Lacking Productivity said...

The hubster and I were talking about waiting the other day. We were discussing the many blessings we have received because decisions we have made based on the principle of waiting. I think that we would be in a very different place today if we would have decided to get everything we wanted, right when we wanted it, and not when the time was right.

As you pointed out, there are definitely things to do and lessons to be learned while waiting.

diana said...

i think about this all the time, yet have to constantly remind myself of it far too many times.

what a sweet opportunity you had to receive such a heartfelt letter from jackie before she passed.

Amy Eagleston said...

I love the part on waiting from Dr. Suess' "Oh the places you'll go" He says that sometimes we get stuck there and that it is a dangerous place. I always think about that.

Kelly and Jill Burk said...

I love how profound this post is Nicole and how profound you are. And you may not know this but in turn this post is teaching those who read this. Thanks for sharing such a sweet portion of the letter from your dear sweet friend Jackie.
Cheers to "waiting", Cheers to living, loving, to life and those who around us teach us such special and profound messages.

nevedobson said...

i am so impatient. i HAAAAAAAATE waiting. i am the worst chiller. i have to be accomplishing something off my ridiculous 'to do' list. i'm constantly trying to make myself slow down and smell the roses instead of running by them as fast as i can. what are we really in such a hurry for... this life is too short to rush through it.

Rania said...

Well said!

Amber and Dallas said...

you always know just how to put it. very well said =). tell john thankyou for coming over today. that was very sweet of him. it helped my garage immensely =)...we have made quite a mess...thankyou thankyou!!! c u tomorrow =)