As you recall, I recently took a friend's husband to have day surgery when she suddenly became sick. This also involved a waiting room occasion. Frankly, I am a people watcher, so reading a book or mindlessly staring at the television does not happen. I am studying those around me and watching their reaction to time in the "Waiting Room." If you want time to slow down, go sit in a hospital waiting room or for that matter any waiting room. We are all guilty of impatiently waiting and are not particularly patient about the time spent sitting in anticipation of what we are waiting for.
Life is filled with "Waiting Room" occasions. Waiting for the birth of a child is a great example. Nine long months of change, growth, and anticipation of the blessed event. Then in a matter of a few hours, life is changed forever. Waiting to graduate from high school, college, boot camp or any other major milestone in life also comes to mind. We spend a great deal of time waiting and preparing for our lives to take a major change by completing our course. Waiting for career changes, home purchases, children growing up, grandchildren arriving~our lives are filled with time waiting for the next anticipated event. We seem to be in life's waiting rooms a great deal of the time. The final waiting room comes in our final years. We are waiting for the last diagnosis, the announcement of our time remaining, or any other event which proceeds the final act.
What is more important than these life changing moments is how we are spending our time in the waiting room. Are we so consumed with the next "big thing" that we forget to live in the moment? Do we idle time away instead of using it to the fullest? Do we live the abundant life while waiting? The waiting room can be a huge waste of time and filled with doubt and chaos or it can be a productive period of time wisely spent. There is more time spent waiting than experiencing the "moment". The challenge becomes to live life abundantly--even in the waiting room.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly.
John 10:10