Oh the Wait!

It was twenty-five years and about six months ago that I was sitting in a chair on a very warm evening and the baby I was carrying would not be still. Now I was very happy to know that the baby was active and welll, but I had been pregnant seven times before this one, and on this very hot day it seemed as if I was going to explode! Platitudes that come from well wishers who tell you of the joy of being a mother usually aren’t what you want to hear. There is only one thing you can do when you are pregnant and uncomfortable and can’t wait for the baby to be born – wait it out!

With my experience of having eight children, I learned what it meant to wait! But waiting on babies entering the world was not the only thing that I had to wait on – just about every area that I knew to be tested – was tested, my health, my finances, my marriage, my family, my church, my work…and so on, and so on. One of my favorite passages of scripture became:

Isaiah 40:30-31 (King James Version)
30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

As much as we may want to spiritualize it, waiting is not always fun, but if we can embrace the wait – we will have certain strengths that only come as a by-product of the wait. Many people collect symbols or replicas of things that represent a part of their character or their joy. I collect eagles. Observing the eagle and its’ massive wings became a reminder to me that if I could “just wait” – that when my change came it would come on eagles wings. The wingspan of an eagle depends on the species, but ranges are from six to eight feet – that’s like flying on a jumbo jet!

Going back to my eighth pregnancy, with a due date of August 12th – I knew that God had to visit me and the little baby I was carrying – if I were to get through this pregnancy with a sane mind. I prayed and asked God to help me – and help the baby to get through it. And that little baby complied – from that day forth – it was not the wrestling and knotting up in a tight ball that I had experienced that hot day – instead (he) became a smooth sailor and floated about comfortably and we made it through. But I made some changes too – I believed the baby to be a boy – and I declared some things over his life – and even in the heat of a very hot summer, I would walk to church to go to prayer – I believed for my baby to be a warrior – gentle in spirit, yet determined. Twenty-five years later as I see that baby boy, now a man, true to the nature that I declared over him, I look forward to him joining with his bride on this Saturday – and I know that he doesn’t have to worry about how he’s going to travel – he’s got a big eagle to carry him through life!

Love you David,
Mama