I had just finished giving her a bottle. Now I was free to sit and watch her. Just sit and take in all of her sweetness before me.
I love holding her with her head by my knees so she is facing me and we can have eye to eye contact as we converse. Sure, it’s mostly me conversing with her but at least she is hearing my voice. Perhaps she will come to not only recognize my face and voice, but be assured conversation with her is important to me.
“We waited a long time for you, baby girl! Nine long months!”
The words came from my mouth as I continued to tell her of our wait and her perfection now that she is with us.
Later that night, as I sat watching TV at home, my husband has gone to bed. Being a person who is unable to watch anything tense or scary, I flip to HGTV. I watch a few shows as they always have a good ending …
- Perspective buyers always buy their dream home in thirty minutes. Seriously, it took us over a year recently to find a home.
- Renovations are completed in sixty minutes. Again, our home renovations took about 3 months. Maybe 4.
- Every roadblock has the easiest and quickest solutions. Ours were complicated and stressful. We thought we’d never get them resolved.
- Whether a sale or a renovation, they are always under budget. Enough said on this one.
As I sat in the soft light of the TV, my thoughts began to stir.
We are becoming a people who want our lives to be changed
in the speediest of ways.
Life is a journey, a process. Reality transformation shows are making us think our challenges should be resolved just as quickly as thirty minutes. Maybe sixty.
But the journey – the process – takes time.
His time.
“When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. They will continue to grow stronger and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.” (Psalm 84:6-7, NLT)
There is such promise and hope to be found in this verse:
- Every challenge is temporary. We come through. The enemy would have us to think we are stuck forever. Things will never change. Nothing good is going to happen. But God takes us through – we come out on the other side!
- There is a future. God promises there is something which comes from it all. It will become a place of blessing.
- We grow stronger. Somehow in the midst of the challenge, the obstacles serve to energize and strengthen us.
May we keep walking through and
see what we all will one day become.
“We are pressed down on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, NLT)
Today I am joining … Porch Stories and Let’s Have Coffee and Woman to Woman and Recharge Wednesday .
You’ve struck a nerve with me, Joanne, because I am one impatient girl. The waiting is always a challenge, and my watch never tells me where I am in the process. Thanks for giving me the message that God has on repeat in my life: the waiting is not wasted time.
Michele, it is amazing how quickly we want the process to be over. And yet, often in the waiting period God is doing His best work. I am reminding myself of this often!
“Life is a journey, a process. Reality transformation shows are making us think our challenges should be resolved just as quickly as thirty minutes. Maybe sixty.”
So good Joanne!
XO
Joanne,
I was shaking my head in agreement as I read your post. Some changes, like becoming more like Christ, take a lifetime. So grateful, our tears are not the end of the story…Blessings to you 🙂
May we submit to the process of change for all of our days, Dolly.
It’s true, we do seem to look for quick-fix solutions. It’s important to remember that often God does his deepest work in the midst of the challenges.
Lesley, in the midst of the challenges God does His deepest work. The hard part for us is that we often are unable to see the fruit of that deep work until the challenge is over. May we be faithful in the midst.
I’ve been staring at my sweet granddaughter all morning. I typically rush through things, but not with her. 🙂 I’m glad that God gives us time we need for the things that matter most. Thanks for encouraging us to slow it down, Joanne.
Yay!! Another little with an enamored grandparent! May we not rush these precious days, Lisa!