Learning to Wait!

   There is a Senior Citizens' Center close by our new home in Michigan that has a large variety of things for seniors to do. Al and I joined it, thinking that it would be a fun way to meet people in our area. One of our first activities through the center was attending “Senior Day” at the Detroit Zoo.

   Around 10:00 on a Thursday morning, a small group of us were taken in a van to the nearby zoo. Once there, our group decided to stay together and went to the area where we could take a tram around the 125 acre enclosure. Many other people had the same idea! We stood on the edge of a whole section of chairs wondering if we should sit down or get directly on the tram when it arrived.

   After a few minutes, a zoo staff person came over to us and told us that we needed a number and would have to wait to sit in the folding chairs until the tram came. Those already seated in the chairs got to go first. She gave us each a verbal number from 11 to 16, reminding me of my teaching days when my students would count off for teams!

   When it finally arrived, everyone already seated in the rows of chairs got to board, while those of us with ‘numbers’ sat down in the rows of chairs. Newcomers had to stand in the back and wait.

   About an hour went by before we were finally able to get on board and take the zoo tour. In the meantime, we got to know the others in our group, which might not have happened otherwise, and listened to the sounds of a men’s a cappella choir drifting through the air. It was perfect weather, just right for a day at the zoo.

    Riding the tram wasn’t the best way to see all of the different exhibits; yet for the allotted amount of time we had that day, it worked out fine. Afterwards Al and I went on our own through the new penguin conservation center. We especially enjoyed watching the penguins through underwater windows. There was no pressure to rush through the exhibit, so we were able to spend time there just observing these amazing little creatures as they interacted on land and in the water.

   The last two exhibits Al and I visited before going out to meet the van were the butterflies and the adjoining aviary for birds.  Both exhibits were wonderful, requiring observers to walk slowly, be quiet and attentive to their surroundings. Multicolored butterflies fluttered freely around in their enclosed area under a canopy of tropical plants. The large brilliant blue ones really caught my attention. How beautiful!

   Although they are probably unaware of it, butterflies spend a large part of their lives waiting as they go through various stages from egg to caterpillar then chrysalis before finally being able to fly. The seniors at the zoo that day demonstrated that they also knew how to wait patiently, without seeming to mind at all.

   Waiting seems to be a large part of our journey through life. It feels strange, because we expect to always be on the move. Yet God uses those waiting periods to speak to our hearts, refresh and transform us. We need time to grow closer to Him. So waiting is a good thing and progress is being made, even though it might not seem like it.

   Dear Father, Please give us patience when it seems like we are waiting forever for something to happen. Help us to trust you completely and to get to know you better so that we can become the people you want us to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

   “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” Psalm 130:5 NIV