Wait…
“Wait for Mommy before you cross the road!”
W-ait…
“Can you wait for dinner? One hour more.”
W-a-it…
“Only four more months ’til Christmas!”
W-a-i-t…
“Nope, don’t open that present yet. TOMORROW’s your birthday.”
W-A-I-T-I-N-G can be excruciating as a kid. Waiting can be excruciating as an adult. What’s the toughest thing you’ve had to wait for? Or… What is the best thing you’ve waited for?
12 Comments
andrew Jun 2, 2004 12:13 PM
i do believe that nothing, including baby waiting, is harder to wait for than when you were 4 years old and standing at the register of the candy store with a brown paper bag in your hand. us chunky kids had a pretty hard time with our heavy breathing and sticky fingers clutched around a fist full of gummy worms.
remember that tv special where they would stick a kid in a room by themselves with a hershey’s kiss. if they waited ten minutes they would get more candy incentives. watching those kids go insane over a piece of candy — nearly putting the candy in their mouth, singing, hitting head on the table, anything they could do to not focus on the chocolate. for them it was pure torture.
lindsay Jun 2, 2004 3:39 PM
you were a chunky kid, andrew? i would have never guessed.
surprisingly, stick-thin sarah was also a chubby kid.
rebecca Jun 2, 2004 4:26 PM
quick note on baby-waiting… sorry to be so cryptic with my remarks on this subject, but privacy issues demand my discretion at this point in time.
it was REALLY hard to wait to get engaged to jeremy. i was impatient in love and didn’t want to wade through proper channels first. the four month wait for further commitment was definitely worth it!!
rt Jun 3, 2004 10:14 AM
this morning i am reminded again… i hate waiting!
Renae Jun 3, 2004 11:28 AM
RT, your comment about impatience at wanting to be engaged reminded me of a married friend who every once and a while would say that she was sad that the dating, the engagement, the wedding, etc. was all over–not that she didn’t enjoy being married, just that you only get to do that stuff once and she wonders if she fully got it or if she was just so impatient for the next thing/next step that she missed it. Isn’t that ever the problem?
It also seems that whenever a longing is finally satisfied it feels worth the wait–that is, when the time finally arrives we quickly forget how excruciating the wait felt. And in fact sometimes I am even silly (or arrogant) enough to think, “Aw, that wasn’t so bad, I bet I could have held out even longer if I had to” Ha! Hahaha! Ha! :) But surely the forgetfulness is a sweet blessing.
rt Jun 3, 2004 12:02 PM
such good words to be reminded with today, renae! in a few weeks my waiting-pains will be gone for sure and “forgetfulness will be a sweet blessing.”
oftentimes we are too eager to get to that next step. i always try to encourage my engaged friends to really truly enjoy their engagement… and not to rush past such a dear time in their lives. i pretty much rushed andrew through his adolescent years by telling him how great the next stage (mine, i’m four years older) was and how his stage wasn’t so great. : / nice, huh?! : )
kerri Jun 3, 2004 6:25 PM
interesting comments on waiting, longing, and fulfillment. i have often told my husband that i don’t like surprises, because i much prefer the anticipation of an event as a part of the whole experience. of course, i do remember thinking that along about month 5 or 6 of pregnancy number 7, that i could do with a little less waiting. :)
good reminders to enjoy the time or season we are in, and take joy in the journey…we wait expectantly with you, rebecca.
Liz Jun 4, 2004 12:28 PM
I am currently waiting for my allergies to clear up. Cottonwoods in full bloom make me feel like I’m in a warm December. They make my nose feel like running away and hiding for awhile.
charity Jun 6, 2004 5:17 PM
its not the “best” thing i’ve waited for, but i’m currently waiting for paint to dry. i even ran some errands and its still wet! one day. some day. it will dry and i can continue. :)
Jeannette Jun 6, 2004 8:17 PM
oh..definitely the water to boil…
just kidding.. probabaly the hardest thing to wait for was the actual wedding day, not so much the engagement..
…ultimately, though, all this pain of waiting is indicative that what we’re all really waiting for is heaven…no pain, no suffering, no restraining our sinful desires, no more separation from God.
Lou Jun 10, 2004 11:14 PM
RT- your blog is wonderful!!!
rt Jun 11, 2004 10:38 AM
thanks, lou! glad to see you here!!