Well, it's definitely winter in grand ol' Minnesota. And winter here means a few things:
1) Snot freezing, bone-chilling, cold, cold, COLD
2) A LOT of (extremely redundant) Facebook statuses complaining about #1
3) Waiting... waiting for the winter to end, waiting for the windchill to get above freezing, and most importantly, waiting for the glorious season that we call spring
Sure, there are a few other things that winters here include (like crazies who actually like the cold!), but I'm stickin' with the (short but sweet) list above cuz we all know it's pretty gosh-darn accurate.
So, like I said, winter here involves a lot of waiting. And besides waiting for the cold to go away, I know a lot of peps that are waiting for other things right now. Waiting to hear back on their offer on a house, waiting to hear from loved ones, waiting to get pregnant, waiting to propose, waiting to move back home, waiting to... (insert pretty much anything here). And if you're me, you're waiting around to see when your firstborn son is going to start his entrance into this world.
The waiting game. Except, waiting rarely feels like a game - more like teeth-pulling, fingernails on a chalkboard kinda torture, right? Right.
And even though it's sups lame, we spend most of our lives waiting for something. From something as simple as waiting in line for a drive-thru, to something as life-altering as the results of a serious medical test - we never have everything we want or need when we want or need it. So, let me say it again. We are always waiting for something.
Personally, I hate waiting, and what's more, I'm not good at it. I'm impatient and not exactly quiet about that fact :) It isn't really a character trait that I'm proud of (nor should I be), but it's still the truth. Having had a pretty unpleasant pregnancy, I am more than ready for it to be over with. But, if I utter a sentiment even close to that feeling, I have mothers everywhere, coming out of the woodwork, immediately jumping on me, and practically shouting some rendition of the following: "You know, you really should be enjoying this time! This is when they are easiest to take care of - you have no idea how much harder it's going to be once they're born!" And here's the thing - I know that. I think any logical person knows that a baby outside of the womb is a thousand times harder to take care of than one inside... you would literally have to be an idiot to believe differently. But... I don't care. It's been a long, brutal 10 months, and I am really done with waiting. I am ready to be a mom, to meet my son, to see Ryan hold him for the very first time, and to share him with this great big world. I don't think it will be easy, I don't think that I am prepared (who can be?!), and I don't think that we have any idea what we are getting ourselves into. But, that doesn't make me want to wait any longer :)
So. I'd like to continue being impatient, thank you very much! But... since I cannot control when this lil' munchkin is going to make his way into this world, any more than many of my family and friends can change what's happening in their season of waiting - I am choosing to remain in God's grace as I move toward the future. I think that this is one of the most challenging things in the world to do. I've talked many times before about things that are in our control and things that are out of our control - and that is a topic in itself. But choosing to gracefully wait on God is no small feat. The key here is grace. Which I usually have very little of. We can't get around the waiting part - but it's HOW we wait that matters.
We choose how we handle our seasons of waiting, and that constant choice, day in and day out, is a character builder just on it's own! I can choose to be impatient, annoyed, complaining about how uncomfortable I am, moping around in my misery, until my baby magically appears (cuz that's what happens, right? Wait, what's labor again? :)). Or, I can choose to use this time to pray protection over our baby, our family, and the medical team that we'll be working with, to get our home and hearts ready (if you haven't checked out Katie K's blog about preparing for the birth of their son, you absolutely should, it's a must-read!) to welcome this bundle of joy into our lives, and to invest in our friends and family through quality time (that we know will become a precious commodity sooner rather than later). I have a choice, "but, choose wisely...", because it's not always so easy. Thank you Indiana Jones :)
Good luck with the waiting game my friends!
