We arrived home to a hot and beautiful emerging summer, which is much better than arriving in the middle of winter. We’ve spent the week visiting friends, working on the land, and getting things organized for the people who are coming to help build my house.
First, my dad wrote with his flight information. He’s coming for two months! And I was overjoyed. Then, he wrote to tell me his good friend bought tickets for him and his wife to come down and build for a month. At that point I had no words.
Rodrigo’s been working for weeks and weeks on the house and now he’s going to have help. And not just one person, but three people are coming to help.
Some of you probably remember about six months ago how we were screaming at the darkness, trying to come up with ways to get our house built. And help was not to be had. It was time to wait and pray and wait and pray and learn to hope. Life is filled with those seasons where we are stuck in some middle place, waiting and praying, waiting and praying, thinking God forgot our phone number or forgot our address – and then from one day to the next everything changes. It actually, makes me think of Christmas. People waited lots of years for Jesus to be born. And then from one day to the next, he was here – and now, everything is different.
I wrote As Waters Gone By a few years ago and spent a whole lot of time in the waiting room. During my years in the waiting room, I wrote three other full length novels. One of them, my agent is currently trying to sell – to no avail. We’ll see. Another, I wrote for my kids and it takes place in Nicaragua. One day, I’ll give it to all my nieces and nephews as a gift, because their names are in it too. And another book – which shall remain nameless – has sat in a file on my desktop for over three years. Full-length. It’s been in the waiting room. It’s rough and prickly, and probably the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever attempted to write. And that’s why it’s been in a file, hidden away. However, after a conversation with my friend and fellow writer, Janalyn Voigt, I decided it was time to pull it out and think through the story.
I’ve had some hurdles, some problems with the content and the characters and haven’t known how to navigate through them. So, I’ve waited. And waited. And waited. In part from fear, in part from something harder to name.
For a long time, I wondered if the story was not meant to become a book. However, the other day, after a lengthy pondering session, some of the answers came to me. In a flash. And I know what to do with it. At least, for now.
All this to say — sometimes waiting feels like we’re losing time. It feels like life is moving along and there won’t be room to jump into the conversation, or we’ll miss the meal, or we’ll miss what’s really supposed to be ours. And you have to discern if you’re waiting because you’re afraid, or you’re waiting because it’s not time yet. If it’s out of fear … press into the fear and move through it. If it’s because it’s not time – wait. Do the hard work of waiting.
The fullness of time is an interesting concept. One worth studying.
Sometimes, many pieces need to converge at the exact moment and it’s in our best interest to cultivate patience and endurance, to be steady in the waiting. So that – when it all converges – it works. Seamlessly.
My dad’s friend of almost thirty years was sitting at the breakfast table with him and offered to come help him build our house. They hadn’t seen each other for over a decade. There was no manipulating, coercing, or begging. Just a simple offer. And we said… YES!
Are you in the waiting room? Are you in a season where you wonder if God lost your email address? I’d love to hear about it. Some of you on my trip to Seattle shared that you read my blog but never comment … PLEASE comment. It’s so much more fun when we do this in community.
Much Love,
Tina
Wise words Tina. I always look forward to reading your words.
Brenda! Thank you for writing and for your kindness. I loved seeing you – if briefly – in Seattle. Much love.
Beauitifully written….I totally agree and understand this period of waiting….when we rush ahead sometime we will miss the best that God has for us…by settling for less. In 2007, we sold our house, bought property and had been unsure and waiting for many years not really knowing why, but trusting God for direction and now many years later we take joy in God’s timing, provision and direction as we build our new home. It is good to wait on God, and it is good to step out in faith and take a risk, when you feel the Spirit guiding you and prompting you.
Konnie,
Thank you for writing me! And thank you for the story. It’s so true.
I am crying right now. Thank you for your words.
Thank you for reading. Hugs to you my dear. Much Love,
Tina
I’m intruiged by your mysterious book in waiting. I’ve thought a lot about writing & how much I enjoy it. I think what holds me back from trying to write something more substantial is not knowing where to start and my guess is that anything I write would be somewhat self-disclosing. That vulnerability creates a lot of questions.
Oh man do I know! Writing is like a window into a person’s soul. And there’s no escaping it. Sometimes fiction is worse than memoir. But it’s also a great gift to be invited into someone’s heart and mind. But the writer has to get beyond that fear of vulnerability.
I haven’t responded to your Facebook message. I would love it if you came to visit sometime. It would be lovely.
Much love,
Tina
Hi, Tina. I was just thinking about you today, wondering how you’re settling back in to life in Chile. If we didn’t have to wait on the fullness of God’s timing, where would our faith be? That’s the Sunday-school answer. The truth is that sometimes it just plain hard.
Never can I say after a season of waiting on God that it was not worth it, though. Hugs, and I already miss you!
I miss you too Janalyn! Wish we could hang out more often.
I’d love to read some of your works in progress … talk to you soon!
T
Waiting is not passive, is it? In truth, it can be the most exhausting thing of all. But so worth it!
Such a great way to describe it. Waiting can be exhausting. Hugs, Tina
Ah, the waiting room..thank you so much for your wise words. We all have time in that place…such a great reminder to remember that we are not losing time – and that waiting is hard work. Thanks Tina…