This past week everyone around us has begun school and we are still trying to figure out what to do with the last sips of summer.
All the while both Mama and her girls have felt like we were in some kind of pre-September limbo. We feel like we’ve been left behind while everyone else has gotten a head start on the race to fall.
My oldest is longing for a fifth grade desk of her own, my six year old wants to see her besties and I would love to pack away the bathing suits and sunscreen for the year.
But the school is still closed and the sun is still shining her 90 plus degrees on us as we wait.
So what do we do when we feel like we are in limbo? What do we do when we are waiting for that thing that is coming but just hasn’t arrived yet?
We went and had lunch on the pier, went to the shell shop, and went to the pool. We organized school clothes and went to the stables. We had some ice cream and read some books.
We made the most of the time we still had.
I remember eight. I sat on my bed and wanted to be 16 or even 12. Anything older than eight. At eight, it seemed, I was powerless, looked-over and far too young for anything.
What I didn’t know at eight {and perhaps wouldn’t have understood had someone told me} was that waiting is okay. I would never be eight again, with no responsibilities and no bills and no deadlines. I could play all summer day long with my legos or in the yard and no one would tell me to do anything else.
There is a freedom in waiting, even in being in “limbo”, that we often overlook.
This past week? That was the last time I had my girls at the age they are now, a beautiful ten and a passionate six, all to myself. For 7 days.
We tried desperately to push back the funk of limbo and breathe in the last wisps of an August that will never come again.
Are you in a limbo period of life? What are you doing with the time spent waiting? Do you have trouble using it well or is it easy to worry about the waiting?
I love this. Waiting is always a bit uncomfortable, but many times it can become a time to allow ourselves to settle into a slower pace and see the beauty of life around us without feeling guilty. I am learning to do this more and more.
Thank you Rachel!
I am just terrible at waiting, always looking to the day/stage/age ahead. Often I am over caught up in the next thing that I miss out on the here and now. I am really bad at living in the moment, cherishing what is right in front of me at this very moment. Sometimes “now” just simply seems too much.
Thanks for the reminder that there is freedom in the waiting if we just embrace it!
i hear you! i’m so guilty of that!!
I’ve been thinking a lot about waiting the last few days and struggling with it too. Thank you for the reminder to enjoy the time of waiting. It spoke to my heart today and was exactly what I needed to hear.
i’m so glad laura!
Thank you for this! I am terrible at waiting. My problem is that instead of sitting comfortably, content in this place the Lord has me, I tend to compare and then the impatience and longing and discontent threatens to sweep me away. That’s when I am forced back to Him. Back to His arms and comforting whispers. In life we will always be waiting for something. If I can’t learn to be content in this season, I will never be content.
i am with you 100%. waiting is hard and contentment is even harder.
I want to go to a shell shop
I am waiting to hear a start date for work. (wondering if it will end up being full-time). School started for my 6th grader just today. So I am making the most of my time, by snuggling with the little one who woke up way too early this morning and this is the only time he cuddles. I am just enjoying what time i have left until I am “thrown” in to the work world and the stress that school brings
ha! i love the idea of snuggling with a little right now. enjoy it!
Oh this was beautiful and peace came over me as I read it. I feel like my life is in limbo more often than not. So many changes, so many unanswered questions … not much different than what others face, but in the moment, limbo can seem so vast, never-ending even and ever so confusing. Thank you for this enlightened perspective!
Thank you for this, Sarah. Oh, well, I remember eight. Then eight and ten. Now I’m two years past, sitting at two decades and wondering when the next big life chapter will flutter open, pages beckoning…thank you ever so much for the reminder that here, here, right here, is where God wants me now.
And blessings as you and your girlies begin another glorious school year!
I love reading what you write. This is the first time I have commented. I just want to tell you how often, and especially today, your post hits me at home and right where the Lord is leading and teaching me. Thanks for your honesty and encouragement.
Hi Sarah! Long time reader, first time commenter but I couldn’t help it on this post. My husband and I have been through extensive fertility treatments and now pregnant (yea!) with our baby girl. It’s been a rough pregnancy–all day sickness until 6 months, migraines, insomnia, congestion–you name it! I’m into my third trimester and can hardly wait any longer. I feel like we’ve waited long enough and often find myself wishing time away. This post helped me to take a step back yesterday and try (TRY) to embrace this time as a couple before parenthood. Thanks Sarah, just what I needed.
on tip toe…it’s in the Bible…Paul wrote it…talking about ALL of the created order…
WAITING on tip toe…
to see what Jesus is going to make of each one of us…
YOLO…like on Hope’s glasses is true…
and if Jesus has His way with each of us…
it will be an AMAZING forever-YOLO!
love ya,
dad
Hi Sarah, thank you so much for this post! It really got me thinking. Within the past few months I found myself feeling tired and wishing for a break more and more often… however, whenever I get some “idle” time all to myself I feel like I don’t know what to do with it. I feel guilty being idle and I start waiting for Monday or for the next big thing. I think I have to learn how to enjoy each moment rather than wait for the days to pass. I find great inspiration in your blog.
Thank you!