Waiting In This In-Between Season

courage, waiting, patience

I am in between where I started and where I want to go. The days are growing warmer, and I wonder where winter has hidden himself. Even the trees are confused. They bloom pink and white now, but a freeze is coming. It always comes before actual spring. Arizona weather is weird that way. It’s ironic that God is teaching me lessons in the waiting, in this in between season, when He knows I hate to wait.

 We all have to wait for something…

  • The grocery store line behind the woman and the cashier who are catching up on each others lives.
  • Results that are slow, because forming online communities are a slow process, much like making a roast where all the flavors have to have time to marry and soak into the meat.
  • Training will be life long for me as I learn from others who have gone before me.
  • Raising support so I can work full time in ministry.
  • Having to stop at every red light when you need to be somewhere. I think someone who controls them must intuitively know when a person is in a hurry and takes sadistic delight in making them stop at every red light.
One of the authors I am reading says not everyone will “get” our ministry. It takes time to help them understand the vision. If you give them too much, like a fine art painting of a bowl of fruit, they think it is impossible to accomplish. If you give them too little like an abstract painting with its lines and squiggles, they get a bad impression of the vision. The answer lies in Monet.

From a distance, you can see the whole picture, but up close the picture is created by a bunch of paint sploches. I need to be Monet when showing my vision to potential supporters. The author is correct though when he says it is an art form.

How many times have I written and rewritten my letters? How many different ways have I explained what I do?

I am grateful for the people coming alongside in this in between season of life as I look beyond the freeze of winter to the colors of spring and the heat of summer.

Reading: Developing a Strategy For Missions – 70% done