The Waiting Lounge

The Waiting lounge….

 

 

 

 

 

I worked out the other day that over the last few years of being with YWAM that I have spent over two weeks of my life in transit, waiting for a plane or a train or a bus to arrive. Some of those have been on concrete floors, using a back pack as something to prop your self up against. Others of those times have been in stations, on plastic chairs, the ones that are bolted to the ground with fixed arm rests that only allow you to sit up straight, which is not bad, since it probably promotes good posture, but after time it gets rather uncomfortable. How ever I have also been fortunate enough to have had on occasion access to airport lounges, where there are comfortable couches, food, and refreshments, and space to lounge out.

But through all of this there has been some commonalities.

Expectation.

You never seem to fully settle down, or rest, knowing that you might miss the plane, bus or train. Even times where I have had 8-11 hour lay overs, and people say to you “Oh come on that’s enough time to sleep” I havent been able to, the expectation and the excitement of knowing that things are about to happen seems to keep me on edge.

Reflection

I am a people person, I enjoy them, I like getting to know new people, I enjoy verbally processing my thoughts with others, and of course hearing others thoughts and picking up things from them. But in these places of waiting, I have spent most of my time by myself, and being able to reflect. Go internal, just me and God and my thoughts, sometimes those times have been enjoyable, other times God has exposed aspects of my character that have taken a longer time to work through. It’s in the waiting lounges that I have often picked up on things that I have missed in the business, and it’s those lessons that are often the ones I learn from the most.

Patience….and Impatience…

Some of the waiting lounge times have been very easy, others not. Some I have enjoyed and been patient, and been comfortable with the wait. Other times, I have been asking the question “Can we go already?!? This waiting sucks!!!!” Times I have thought that the waiting has been to short, a chapter that I wanted to read, a coffee I wanted to drink, a conversation I wanted to finish, an email I wanted to write… Other times, I have been eagerly waiting hours wishing time could fly, sitting watching the seconds tick by. And like they sometimes like they say in the cooking world, looking at a pot waiting for it to boil will always take longer. Looking at a clock, seems to make the seconds tick slower…

Wondering what the next destination will be like…

If it’s a place I have been to before, or one that’s completely new, I always seem to wonder, try visualise what it could be…who I will meet, what I will get up to, what new exciting and challenging ventures would be had. What God is up too, and how can I play a part in it.

The present….

At the moment I find my self in yet another waiting lounge scenario. I am waiting for a Visa to be processed, for the next stop in ministry. I have been accepted to work on staff at a YWAM Base in Europe and more news on that will follow soon. But I am stuck in SA waiting, I have left YWAM Muizenberg, and now am in a season that feels a lot like a waiting lounge… I find my self going through similar feelings, motions and experiences. And unlike in those times where you have a ticket with a date, time and location on, this time I do not know how long I will be in this season for. But its one that I realise it’s a part of my ministry that is crucial.

Please continue to pray for me, as I figure out what this season looks like, back home in South Africa…

Steve

 

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