There is a term in education called "wait time," which refers to the amount of time between the teacher asking a question and eliciting a response from the student. I was taught to allow at least 7 seconds "wait time." That's not much in the grand scheme of things, but when you are silently staring at a room full of middle schoolers, 7 seconds can feel like an eternity. The theory behind "wait time" is that it gives all students the opportunity to process the question and formulate a response before the teacher calls on someone. Inevitably, though, what happened when I really did wait that long is someone would say, "Umm...what was the question?"
Sigh.
It was hard for me to wait, and it still is. Waiting feels passive, and I want to be doing something. I want to feel like I'm moving forward. But sometimes, in education as well as in life, a period of "wait time" is exactly what we need in order to move forward. There are lessons we learn in our wait time that we just couldn't if we didn't have time to process what is happening.
For the past couple of years, I have been waiting and waiting to return to France...and now I'm finally here! :-) But that doesn't mean the waiting is done. On the contrary, I have a new set of things to wait for: waiting for an email to confirm an appointment, waiting to see a friend, waiting for the bus or the Métro, waiting for the day when I might be able to express myself freely in French. In each "wait time," though, I can be confident that God has something to show me. And when the time is right, He can and will act swiftly (see Isaiah 46:11, Isaiah 48:3, Habakkuk 2:3,14). And then...it will be on to the next wait time.
Waiting at the bus stop...
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