Waiting....

On this quiet Saturday after Good Friday I feel "broken-hearted and crushed" for all those who are fighting the fight of this pandemic - health care workers, victims of the virus, victims who have been economically stressed, governments working overtime, families lives being changed forever.

I am sure the followers of Jesus felt the same way. The  dead body of Christ had been taken to a tomb  Friday before sundown by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. The women went home to prepare spices and perfume for the body. Since it was their Sabbath, there was nothing else they could do. They did what they could to prepare and they waited for the first day of the week.

Isn't that what we are all doing today? Waiting. Preparing. Wondering about so much. Trying to be normal when nothing is normal.

And as we wait and wonder, we try to do things that are necessary and meaningful.  And hopefully, these things take on new purpose. We read more and think longer about what we have read.  We make sandwich lunches for shelters where life is hard to begin with and we feel guilty about the luxury of a kitchen.We clean out a closet - and we realize we have way too much.  We drive somewhere necessary only to discover how nice it is to not have traffic. We learn how to Zoom or order groceries online - and we discover new technology skills.  We clean and disinfect - and we wonder how we have managed to live this long.

I have never been so prepared in my kitchen. For people who like to plan the evening meal two hours ahead and then make the necessary stops to get just the right ingredients, the food prep has gotten fairly streamlined. The grocery list is well thought out. I mean, the Easter coconut cake was made a few days ago.  A protein and a salad or veggies reign supreme. Leftovers become lunch. Nothing is wasted.

So how is this waiting going for you? Are you making the best of it?  When this is past - and it will pass -  will you look back and remember all the good that came of it or will you regret wasting your time in worry?

"Peace does not dwell in outward things but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands....Jesus had perfect trust in His Father, whose will He had come to accomplish.  Nothing touched Him without His Father's permission. Nothing touches me without my Father's permission. Can I not then wait patiently? He will show the way."
Elisabeth Elliot