Wait

I’ve been away from home for several weeks now with just Jack and Kelsey, my trusty corgis, as companions. I have been exploring new places and meeting new people as we travel through New England, but all the travels have been solitary and I find that I’m missing friends and family. Tomorrow I will see some much beloved faces when my sister Mary and her family come to Day Lily cottage for a week long visit. And I can’t wait!
Waiting is one of the hardest things we do as human beings. It is also one of the primary commands that we give to our dogs, who find waiting equally hard. In her book, Soul Friends: Finding Healing with Animals by Kate Nicoll, she writes, “Learning wait is an exercise in patience, understanding, communication and compassion. The wait we request of our dogs is for safety, manners and connection…Learning to wait is an important life skill for humans and animals. Wait requires a high level of connection and thought process. Think of yourself as a toddler; wait was never on your mind, this was something you learned through childhood and into adulthood. It requires the ability to truly understand the anticipated object or person will not go away. If you turn your back, it will not disappear forever or be obliterated. Wait requires trust, as well as awareness and appreciation of the other object or person…the command wait demands you pay attention to the now.”
Both Jack and Kelsey know the wait command, although it is not one of their favorites. I make them wait to go out the door, wait for treats, and sometimes just wait, so that their focus is on me. Even after all these years, Jack and Kelsey and I are still working on wait, learning to trust one another. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “But they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings, like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall run and not faint.”(Isaiah 40:31) The Message transposes that verse as:

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.

Waiting is a time to recollect ourselves – literally to re-collect ourselves and who we are as Children of God. With dogs, it is a time to get them to re-focus on me. Perhaps God is doing the same. Wait. Something or Someone is coming. It will be worth the wait. And while you are waiting, your strength will build and I, the Lord, will fill you with my Spirit, so pay attention to the now.
I can’t wait to see Mary and her husband Mitch and my terrific nephews Adam and Alex. They will be here soon enough. But while I’m waiting, I’m paying attention to my surroundings, to Jack and Kelsey, to the lessons of Scripture and to the prayers. And I’m waiting to see what God in Jesus is working in me.