Waiting
First Thanksgiving in the states since 2017 = happy family.
Waiting
“Hurry up and wait.”
Most military folks know this tried and true adage. There always seems to be a whole lot of rush and thrash in life before a significant event, and just as often there are grating periods of killing time.
Folks who have deployed are all too familiar with some form of spin up, out processing, and actually getting on a rotator and heading overseas. Amidst the whirlwind of appointments, briefs, and a thousand other things, there’s usually a really slow spot when you wait to board the jet and finally move out. At the end of the trip is the worst wait of all - the wait to go home.
It’s true in everyday life, though. We count down the days until a big trip. We wait as the hours and miles roll by down the highway to pull into Mom and Dad’s driveway for the week. For a lot of folks, we wait until we hear the result of a COVID test until we can carry on with our lives.
But being in the “wait” isn’t always a bad thing. There can be sanctification in enduring the wait. Enjoying the atmosphere in a relative’s home as the holiday meal is prepared maximizes the time spent before the big meal. The challenges and long days of pregnancy can grow a couple closer together and ever so slightly prepare them for bringing home that bundle of joy. There are a lot of things in life “worth waiting for,” and that time for preparation and developing the virtue of patience is vital, but that’s not always easy for us to accept.
Another danger of just waiting until you get to the big day is that it sets us up for failure and disappointment. It’s easy to build up a big social event or important work event so much that it yields anxiety and then lukewarm excitement at best. Time spent worrying could have been time spent preparing and mixing in some strategic downtime, another thing necessary for mission success.
So for now, I plan to enjoy as much of the time I have as possible, including waiting for pumpkin pie.
Happy Thanksgiving, America!
-MJVW