Meanwhile…

As of late we’ve found ourselves in a bit of a “waiting spot”.
You know what I mean…when you’re kind of putting things (like the rest of your life) on hold because you have something big coming up. That kind of “interim living” because you don’t want to start anything just to have it interrupted…or because it’s such a monumental event that all of life’s mundane-ness doesn’t really seem relevant or important. Then, when the big “thing” gets postponed….well, it’s kinda hard to regroup and figure out how to start daily living again.

Anyway…I found this post I wrote back in June of 2015 and it really fit well with my life today so I’m sharing it here. Maybe it will resonate with somebody else too…or maybe I just read too much Dr. Seuss.

 

Life is full.
How’s that for an understatement?
Things are always happening.
Pretty much every single day we make plans…live out plans…reminisce about plans that have already happened…and get our lives ready for plans that will take place.

Now….these “things” that happen can be divided into two basic groups: Big and Little.

The “BIG” things are more…..big.
They might need a lot of prep work,
They might be a life changing event,
They might be a cure for the common cold.
–Point is….they are pretty monumental.

The “LITTLE” things are more….little.
They might BE the prep work for the big things…
They might be daily life activities….
They might be simply finding ways to spend extra time.
–Point is….they certainly don’t always feel monumental.

There are a lot more “little” things than “big” things.
In fact….we might spend long periods of time doing “little” things while we are waiting for the next “big” thing to happen.
If you have a trip coming up, you might spend the week before doing wash, packing, organizing and getting everything ready. All of these chores are simply preparations for the big event.
Sometimes the “big” thing is a special occasion….and you just try to fill the beforehand time with as many mundane activities as possible so that time will pass quickly and you can get to your desired event.

There sure is a lot of beforehand time.

In one of my favorite books (Oh The Places You’ll Go) by one of my favorite authors (Dr. Seuss) (don’t laugh) he describes this as, “The Waiting Place.”

The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

Don’t we spend most of our time doing this?
We know God has a plan…and we are waiting for Him to reveal it.
We think things will get easier when we get used to them….and we are waiting to get used to them.
We believe that time heals all wounds….and we are waiting for time to pass to feel healed.
We think that eventually we will have more spare time to do something….so we are waiting for that spare time.
We think that we might be one day be good enough to help do something….and we are waiting until we can be confident that we are.

It’s like the dots on a graph.
Those dots are the “big events”.
There may be hundreds of them scattered over our personal “life graph”.
But…in order to get from one dot to another….we have to connect them with lines.
These lines are the “in between times.”
The “waiting times.”
The “meanwhiles.”

Look at a graph.
There are a LOT more areas covered by lines than areas covered by dots.
There are a LOT more “Meanwhiles”, than “This-is-it”s.

So here is the question.
How are you spending your Meanwhile?

Are you waiting?
Waiting as in:
staring at the walls,
hoping for chances,
praying for clarity but doing nothing else,
looking for perfect circumstances,
postponing things until after the “event”.
filling the moments with frivolous activities,
staring doggedly at the next “dot” in the graph and willing it to get here so you life is no longer meaningless???

Or, are you waiting?
Waiting as in:
keeping your mind and body ready to go,
taking chances,
praying for clarity and stepping out in faith,
finding methods to overcome obstacles,
discovering ways to serve and make a difference in the “little” things until you reach the next “big thing”,
realizing that even the “in between” times can be moments of sweet preparation and discovery?

Waiting can mean sitting quietly, not moving, and exhibiting patience.

Or…waiting can mean actively serving (such as the wait-staff at a restaurant) and doing it all as unto the Lord until you arrive at the next “dot”. This method also requires patience….but an active useful type of patience.

I started this post with, “Life is full.”
Let me amend that to, “Life is full of Meanwhiles”

How are you spending yours?