She will walk.
That’s what my daughter’s doctor said to me when we went to her 15-month checkup. He didn’t know I was worried about what he would say, or the insecurities of seeing all of her friends walk, as she is still crawling like a champ. But he looked me dead in the eyes as he assured me that she would walk. She was excelling at all of her other milestones. She was extremely interactive, her fine motor skills she was advanced in, and she chatted more than other children her age.
She will walk.
I am waiting for her to walk. She is beginning to take a few steps at 17 months (and those steps are thrilling to see), but we are still waiting for the actual walking.
Waiting for Olivia to walk isn’t the only thing that we waited with her on. When she was about 4 months old it was decided that she needed a helmet. When she was growing in my belly she never really moved, and so when she was born her head was flat on one side. The doctor was hoping that with time and repositioning the flat part would start to grow. But it didn’t.
So, we got the helmet. And although the helmet corrected the flatness, the waiting was at times discouraging. I remember looking at her after about a month and a half in the helmet and thinking to myself that it wasn’t working. The doctor asked me if I saw the difference, and I told him that I didn’t. That may have been because I saw her every day and when you see someone every day, growth is hard to notice.
The doctor would measure her head at each visit and show me the progress that she was making (the progress that I wasn’t seeing) until the glorious day when we were able to take the helmet off for the last time. It really was a glorious day. Those helmets, as cute as they are, smell and cause rashes!
What Are You Waiting For?
But the waiting was worth it. She had almost had 100% correction with the helmet, which will help alleviate medical issues the doctor said were possible in the future. For this we are thankful. We are thankful for the correction, but also the waiting because in that waiting our daughter was growing even when it was hard to see.
What are you waiting for? Are you waiting to find a new job? Find the man you will marry? Waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled in your life? Waiting can lead to the thinking God are you even moving at all? Did you forget about me?
We are all waiting for something. And while we are waiting it can be so easy to look around at everyone else’s life and compare theirs to where you think yours should be (kind of like how I was with her walking). I should be more spiritual than her. I wish my faith was as strong as hers. I should be more thoughtful than her. I wish my prayer life was like hers. Wow, she is in her Bible much more than I am.
Let me back up a second. If my daughter wasn’t excelling in other areas besides her walking, there probably would have been a problem. But we trust her doctor, and she wasn’t wasting her time. Yes, she wasn’t walking but she was practicing her babbling and learning how to eat mashed potatoes with a spoon. She was learning to brush her teeth, and my teeth while she was at it.
Wait for the Lord.
What are you doing while you are waiting? Are you being stagnant, or moving forward? Are you standing still, or growing in the time you are given?
[Tweet “Waiting should never be wasted. – Jessica Schneider”]
Waiting should never be wasted. Waiting shouldn’t be a time of standing still, but a time of preparation for what is before you. Waiting can be a time of seeing God’s wonder because 
when you don’t waste the waiting you can truly see that you weren’t merely waiting, but that God was actually working and you were growing. And sometimes His working is hard to see, but as you step back and look at the whole picture, you will see that He is moving in the waiting. When you receive what you are waiting for, you will look back and thank Him for the work He accomplished.
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 24:13-14
Your Turn
What are you waiting for? Share it with us so we can be praying for you in the waiting.
