In Between

Have you ever noticed that much of life is lived in the “in between?”  In between jobs, in between relationships, in between stages, in between seasons.  We find ourselves in the waiting room between one thing and another.  We are almost always waiting for something.

Word came this week that my grandmother suffered a severe stroke.  She will not recover.  We wait for the call that will make a trip to Nebraska imminent.

The calendar tells me it is spring, but the rain mingled with snow outside my window today combined with the temperature says it is still a few weeks off.  Every morning when I wake up I think,”Maybe today the sun will shine.  Maybe the mercury will reach a degree that will feel like a spring day today.”  Alas, I am still waiting.

I am currently in an “in between” stage of life.  My four girls are out of the home, but I do not yet wear the title of “Grandma.”  I want to be a productive, contributing member of society, but still be available to our grown daughters and elderly mothers.  I want some free time, but not too much.  My husband is approaching retirement, but not quite there yet.  I have let go of one job, but wait to hear on another.  So how do we live in the “in between?”

Often we equate waiting with doing nothing.  Actually, waiting is not as passive a stage as one might think. While waiting we can do lots of things.  We can pray.  We can read.  We can take classes we never had time to take before.  We can listen.  We can write. We can volunteer.  We can get up every day and be present in the lives of those we love.  Sometimes the most effective thing we can do is just “show up.”  Every day, every week, every month, year after year.  There is a lot to be said for faithfully “showing up.”  It’s easier to withdraw, to hide out, to stay home, to do nothing.

How well do you wait?  My irises are poking their stalks up through the ground taking in today’s raindrops.  They have waited since last July to once again display their glory.  Maybe you feel like you have been “under ground” for a time.  Take heart.  Good things are ahead.  One day, if you are proactive in your waiting, you will look back and see that much was accomplished in the “in between.” 

RomaLee