Sheri Wohlfert
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Talks & Topics
    • Discipleship & Evangelization
    • Women's Ministry
    • Catholic Schools
    • Catholic Hospitality Training
  • Events & Bookings
  • About
  • Contact

Joyful Words Blog

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path. 

– Psalm 119:105

Waiting

12/10/2015

0 Comments

 
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:31
 
If you were to give yourself a score between 1 and 10; 10 being awesome, how would you score yourself at waiting?  Are you patient, still and peaceful as you wait or are you fidgety, anxious and impatient? What would you think if I told you I was going to give you a free trip to sit in a waiting room?  I’m not sure how many would find that much of a trip at all but maybe it could be if we took a different look at waiting and the things that can happen to us while we wait. 

One December many years ago I remember sitting in waiting rooms at Mayo Clinic with Mom for an entire week.  I am reminded of a simple blessing of all that waiting each year when I put up our Nativity set.  As we waited and waited, I began to visit with people who were also waiting and there was one particular couple from Wisconsin that made the waiting so much better.  Throughout the week he would whittle little pieces of wood and she would card wool from the sheep they raised.  On the last day we were at the clinic they told Dad and me they would be praying for us and they handed each of us a set of nativity animals made from the wood he had carved and whittled and the wool she had carded.  Each year as I unpack them I pray for that couple and remember the gift of their talent and their friendship and prayers during a time of frustrated waiting.  They were our Mayo clinic blessing; a waiting blessing.

I think we’re all waiting for something.  What are you waiting for? Maybe you’re waiting for a new job, or a headache to go away.  Perhaps your wait is more serious like waiting for a baby, for test results, a lost love to return or for a diagnosis.  Perhaps you’re waiting for someone to get car keys so you don’t have so much carpooling to do or for a little one to finally sleep through the night or master the art of potty training.  Many are waiting for a blanket of sadness, grief or loneliness to be lifted from their heavy heart.   We spend months just waiting for something to start and something to stop so something else can start.  The honest truth is, many of us are simply waiting on God to organize our life just the way we’ve been planning it; just waiting for him to do his job the way we’d like it. Since we spend so much time waiting, the kind of waiter we are matters.

The prophet Isaiah promised that those who waited on the Lord would have their strength renewed.  I could use a little of that!  The fruit of waiting patiently is peace.  That peace gives way to humility and docility.  What if we invited God into our waiting?  What if we offered him the seat right next to us?  Through that attitude of humility and docility that comes with peace, we might begin to realize that the job we’ve been waiting for might not be ours at all; maybe it’s the perfect job for someone else.  What if that person we’ve been waiting to love us is meant to love somebody else because God has someone chosen that will love us far more than the person we had in mind ever could.  What if healing meant making our soul healthier than our body so we could enjoy eternity with Jesus instead of spending more years on earth? What if we became so good at waiting we grew in humility to such a point we rejoiced when others got something and we forgot we were even waiting in the first place?  What if we realized all of the waiting we do has a great purpose; one we usually can’t see.  Not to worry, God can see it and someday we’ll figure it out and realize when we patiently wait for him to bring everything to complete perfection, we are blessed with something so much better than we even hoped for!

 Isaiah said that we would not grow weary or faint.  How can that be?  Worrying and waiting is exhausting, everybody knows that.  Well, here’s a news flash, waiting is supposed to be an inactive thing so we shouldn’t be worn out.  If we are waiting right we are in peace, letting time pass with contentment knowing God has it all under control.  Instead we get worn out because we fight and squirm and wrestle with God’s plan confident he’s forgotten, or misunderstood our needs.  When I get like that I hear my mother’s voice say, “Now Sheri Ann, just settle down miss, settle down!”  Good advice as always mom!  Advent seems to be a great time to practice our waiting!  Ready…set…wait!

A Seed To Plant:  What are you waiting for?  Make a list and ask God to take your worries and “waiting for’s” and exchange them for peace and patience.

Blessings on your day!

 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe to Joyful Words Blog
    Subscribe

    Sheri's writing can also be found at Faith Catholic Publications and on CatholicMom.com
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

Email     [email protected]

Phone   989.640.6673

Subscribe to Joyful Words Blog

* indicates required
/* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

Content is the intellectual property of Sheri Wohlfert
Created by Olivia K Design
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Talks & Topics
    • Discipleship & Evangelization
    • Women's Ministry
    • Catholic Schools
    • Catholic Hospitality Training
  • Events & Bookings
  • About
  • Contact