Predictions and waiting

I remember when I was pregnant with my first baby, and we decided to wait on finding out the gender. It was astonishing how many people were certain they "knew" my unborn child's sex, and the certainty was for both gender camps. Other people were merely astonished that we could wait at all. Most people are not very good at waiting because there is very little that we have to wait for in today's immediate gratification era. I'm certain that soon there will be a market for finding out your child's gender as soon as you find out your pregnant (although based on anatomy, I will doubt its legitimacy.) We have discovered ways to make everything faster and faster. Personally, I am thankful for the microwave as much as the next busy mom, but I've learned that patience is a muscle that when flexed enough, begins to be quite appealing. As I watch my little ones wait for Christmas morning, I have begun to accept the goodness in the wait. Too often the actual event that we are waiting for either doesn't live up to our expectations or merely can't be compared to our expectations.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future." While I may be "good" at waiting on gender reveals or G-tube extractions, I am not very good at leaving my predictions at the door. However, the last sentence of this verse really cut me to the core. Because I am a planner (yes you can wait on the gender and still plan for a baby), I like to be prepared for what's ahead. I try to predict every sniffle or tummy ache as impending spreadable disease. I try to predict every good night's sleep as a potentially great start to the day. Yet the opposite of my predictions often occurs. The time in between, those times of waiting, making Christmas cookies, building gingerbread houses, wrapping presents, decorating or planning for each new season, tend to be sweet times that don't always receive the consideration they are due.
Last Christmas I was so excited to give Silas his first bike, but Christmas morning brought a nasty ear infection to my little man. Along the same vein, there have been blissful days of joy and laughter in our home that aren't marked by any special calendar date. There's no way to really know anything about our future, despite our best efforts at predictions. We must enjoy the present moment whether good or bad, it will not last forever.
When we wait for a job, a spouse, a season, a child, we get to expectantly enjoy the advent or arrival of something. Yet, like the predicted king arriving in a smelly stable, what we expect is usually nothing like what we imagined. So enjoy the in between. Enjoy your waiting season.

We will wait and see what Levi's GI doc has to say on Monday, but in the mean time, I am thanking God he continues to eat by mouth, and grow just a little each day.