Several years ago my husband informed me that we would be moving-

AGAIN!

This was nothing new in our life. I knew it would come --- inevitably. But even though I wasn’t surprised I wasn’t prepared. I had put down roots. Rats! I knew better than to get too comfy in any community.

Then my husband gave me another piece of news. “We don’t know where we are going and we don’t know when. Just start getting rid of your responsibilities. Don’t sign up for anything new. Oh- and don’t tell anyone until we know for sure what the plans are. There is major restructuring taking place at work.”

So we were moving AND we were waiting.

Now I am a busy, involved, doer. For me to suddenly begin dropping out of activities and to pass on assignments was going to make some people curious about my intentions. I blamed it on my new baby. Told everyone he was more of a responsibility than I had planned. Everyone understood.

So I waited…

A year and a half went by. No news.

And I waited.

Is your life on hold?

Ever wonder what to do when you are waiting for something that just won’t happen? Frustrating isn’t it? Down right aggravating.

Then, the first weekend of December, on a night that my house was turned upside down with decorations every where, the night before I was to take a carload of kids on a “field trip” to “town” for a Christmas play and shopping, the night before the “company Christmas party”, the weekend before I was to have a “little” Christmas gathering in my home, DH arrived and told me we were moving to Chicago and we were leaving Sunday- yes day after tomorrow on a house hunting trip.

Just like that. Drop everything. The wait is over. In two months we would be in our new home. Oh and somewhere in that short period of time we would celebrate Christmas!

I couldn’t believe it.

I have never liked waiting. It seems the waits in my life are so inconvenient. I don’t have time for them. I long for them to end. And when they do, I feel put upon.

You know God is never late. We made it through Christmas. We bought and sold houses, and we moved. That was exactly 20 years ago today! The weather in Chicago was balmy- even warm. Yet we had no more unloaded the moving van than a major snow storm hit the area. I stood amazed at how God paved the way for us.

But why had God put us on hold causing us to wait for so long?

Friends.

Over the next days as I settled into my new home with two little guys in tow, I began to meet women who had also recently moved to the neighborhood- all within the past 3 months! Each one of the five women who soon became my very close friends also had a toddler. For the next two years 6  40-something moms and their 6 toddlers spent at least one day a week together. We became fast friends and never ceased to be amazed at how similar our stories were. God had held each husband’s career in check and then suddenly He said, “Alright, now you can go.” And we all arrived in Naperville, settled within blocks of oneanther, enrolled older children in the neighborhood elementary school and stumbled into one another! 

We may never know why God has us in His Wait Room. One thing I know for sure. He has a plan. He loves me. I find it endearing that He cared so much about me moving to the big windy city, to a place in time where my husband would be traveling more than he would be at home – My heavenly Father and the Creator of the universe cared so much about me and my well being that He wanted me to be surrounded with friends. He handpicked 5 girlfriends for me, moving each one to the neighborhood where I would be living and in a unique and amazing way brought us together to form a bond of friendship, a playgroup, a prayer group, a support group. Sometimes I think I could write a book based on our adventures.

If you are waiting right now, trust that God has a plan. At just the right time, He will say, “Go,” Like the dove in Noah's ark, God will open up the window and let you go --- "fly away little bird, the wait is over. "  One day you will be able to look back on this time and encourage another traveler who, like you, needs to know, “God is never late.”

Shine!