Oh, child. \u00a0And so the next morning I asked her about the letter, and she told me this:<\/p>\n
Mom, I’m just really, really glad you’re home, mom, so that Ella isn’t in charge anymore. I\u00a0just kept waiting for you to come home. \u00a0It was a really hard wait. And then I just fell asleep. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Yep.<\/p>\n It was a hard wait,<\/em> she told me. \u00a0And I figured that\u00a0would<\/em> be a hard wait, considering the fact that she opened the door for us to punish her “as much as we wanted.”<\/p>\n There are so many hard waits in this life. \u00a0We’re waiting to find the right house for our family to make our home. \u00a0 It’s a hard wait. \u00a0Waiting on news about a job, waiting on a difficult marriage, waiting on test results, waiting on a child who has walked away from the faith, waiting on a spirit to feel renewed after being stuck in the mud and mire for so long, waiting on a pregnancy when for months there has been no success – we’ve all experienced these hard waits in some capacity.<\/p>\n I’ve waited on death on two different occasions. \u00a0This is a strange and difficult waiting, standing around the bed of a loved one while begging God to let the suffering be over. \u00a0In the last days of both parents, I prayed for death for three days, and with each moment, with each second, the Lord responded with,\u00a0“Wait.” \u00a0<\/em>We wait patiently as believers because we are finite and not in control. \u00a0We wait patiently because there is an infinite God who is<\/em> in control with His perfect timing and in His perfect way. \u00a0And as believers,\u00a0we don’t wait in vain. \u00a0We don’t even wait merely for the end result, but we wait focused on who we can become in the process of a hard wait.<\/p>\n I think of Abraham and the many, many years he waited to see the promise to him fulfilled, that he would father many nations. \u00a0But he didn’t wait in vain. \u00a0Romans 4 tells us what he did during the waiting process:<\/p>\n 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, \u201cSo shall your offspring be.\u201d 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah\u2019s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.<\/em><\/p>\n During the waiting process, Abraham\u00a0grew stronger<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>in his faith<\/strong> with open hands and an open heart reflecting on the glory of God and the promise that He is able to do abundantly more than we ask or even imagine.<\/p>\n Waiting for the messiah must have been a hard wait, filled with seasons of doubt, but “in the fullness of time,” the incarnation happened, and God Almighty took on flesh and walked amongst us. \u00a0Oh, the depth of emotion Mary must have had when her son was finally born, when the One promised to save the world \u00a0lay peacefully in her arms. \u00a0“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Her hard wait produced beautiful worship which was recorded and which still penetrates my heart. \u00a0She was able to rejoice with fullness of heart because Christ had come.<\/p>\n And we keep waiting with this same anticipation for Christ’s return. \u00a0Sometimes it’s a hard wait. \u00a0With all the violence, uncertainty, stress, and loss we experience, it can be a hard wait. \u00a0But we don’t have to wait in vain. \u00a0We become someone during the process, and if our hands and heart are open to the glory of God, if our faces are turned heavenward during this season rather than inward, our faith can be strengthened, our praises heard, and the nearness of God can be felt. \u00a0He never leaves during the waiting process; He walks with us as closely as we feel our own breath.<\/p>\n May the hard waiting produce in us beautiful worship that penetrates the hearts of those around us, knowing that one day the ultimate wait will be over and with great joy we will proclaim, Christ has come. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The kids were home alone the other night with their big sister in charge. \u00a0While it’s difficult to watch the … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/katiepolski.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/FullSizeRender.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\")
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