Photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash

I’ve learned some of my most valuable lessons from my grandchildren. Our first grandchild taught me the importance of waiting, of slowing down, or sometimes even being willing to stop completely. And he taught me when I was ripe for learning it, too. Rhyan moved at his own pace, pausing to inspect every bug and rock. Once when I was in a rush, I was just about to hurry him along until he stopped in his tracks and turned his cute 4-year-old face to me and said, “Nan, you know what I like most about being with you? You never tell me to hurry up”. Ouch. 

How do you handle waiting? It can help us grow if we let it. It can help grow our patience. You know, one of the fruits of the spirit from last month’s newsletter; the one defined as “enduring something difficult or disagreeable without complaining.” Now just because Rhyan moved at his own slow pace doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s patient. We both discovered that a few years later when we made brownies together. 

I was excited about this Hallmark Moment, something like a living Norman Rockwell print. I was going to be the patient grandmother smiling sweetly as I showed this young boy how to add the eggs, oil, and water to the mix. But guiding his hands as we poured the batter into the cakepan, things went from Hallmark to The Simpsons. He asked why we were putting the batter in that pan and putting it into the oven. So, I explained the baking process to him, and how we would have to wait until it was baked and then wait again until it was cool enough to cut. 

He quickly told me that’s not how he and his mom did it. They mixed the batter, got two big spoons, and sat at the table to eat the unbaked batter, raw eggs and all. He was literally unfamiliar with the concept of baked brownies, and he considered it a complete waste of time. I did my best to show other spiritual fruits like kindness, encouraging him to help us find something fun to do while we waited for the baking to finish. I managed to show self-control, not telling him that his mother (my daughter) was an idiot for letting him eat raw eggs. 

So, what good does come from our waiting, other than brownies and homemade bread? Waiting makes us stop or at least pause. It gives us a chance to hear from God, to receive direction or a new revelation. It allows us to see things we otherwise would have missed, like watching the beauty of a sunrise. It presents opportunities to question things we don’t understand and to take those things to God, sometimes in fear, doubt, or even anger. It’s what God wants us to do. We see it expressed in various ways more than forty times in scripture. Waiting to be strengthened. Waiting to be exalted. Waiting to be saved. 

Most of my missteps and mistakes are a result of my rushing things, of getting in a hurry, or running headlong into something when I should have waited. Not simply waiting for time to pass, but being still and waiting patiently for the Lord, for his direction, his guidance, his wisdom. Perhaps sometimes just waiting for his peace. Do I still fail to wait, rushing into something when I know better? Sometimes. But I have become better at waiting, listening, and receiving God’s goodness. And I’ve also eaten brownie batter straight out of the bowl… when nobody’s watching. 

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.  

Lamentations 3:25, NRSVUE