waiting

I recognize that I should probably treat time like the preciously limited resource that it is, but right now I wish that time would speed up just a little bit. That's not actually true; the Adventures from the Book of Virtues video about the Magic Thread scared me for life and there is no way that I would ever wish for time to really speed up because I know that I could never get it back. But it is true that right now I'm in the middle of a serious waiting period. After rushing through school and all that entails (not just classes but friends and weekly meals and applying for jobs etc etc etc), and rushing through the period directly after graduation (in which I actually got my job), and rushing through getting a car and throwing away my childhood belongings/high school papers, I've reached a stopping point.

Now all I can do is wait. To be fair, I know that I still need to finish packing (and I actually have to find a place to move all of my belongings to) in order to start the next stage of my life. But I really have a month of waiting. And then even when my job starts it'll be a waiting period until the next stage of my life which might be a more permanent job or more school (which is also a transition period). I guess my point here is that everything is a transition stage to the next--and at no point will I reach a plateau of perfectness and stability that will last for the rest of my life. BUT, this is a very brief time of transition so I don't have the motivation to settle in because I can see the end of it in my one-month forecast, so I'll continue to talk about waiting even though I know there's waiting all the time in my life.

Waiting is not a passive activity; you're thinking of procrastinating or killing time. Waiting is active. Psalm 27 is super fantastic and ends with this verse: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Waiting for the Lord does not mean sitting back and doing nothing. It requires strength! I recently read this devotional which tells us to wait in prayer; wait with simplicity of soul; wait in faith; wait in quiet patience. Thank the Lord for your circumstances as you trust that he will use them to do his will (even if you're frustrated, confused, lonely or just bored). There is a purpose for every period of time in your life and it is your responsibility to be its steward, using it for the kingdom of God. My goal is to use this month to grow spiritually while I have the energy and time to read books and study scripture, to identify things in my life I can give away (belongings, money, time, maybe more things?), and to make more efforts to invest in relationships that are transitioning to long-distance friendships. And hopefully I won't let my resolve dissolve into watching tv marathons and sleeping 12 hours a day!