Recently, another mom and I were talking. She was going to go to the doctor in a few days to find out if her child would need another surgery. The doctors weren’t sure if the first surgery fixed all the problems or if they needed to go in again. As we were commiserating, I realized how much of our lives we spend waiting. Whether that’s test results, phone calls or doctor appointments, there’s an awful lot of time parents of children with disabilities spend in limbo…worrying…wondering. And try as we may, the fears never really go away. No matter how hard we try, they linger in the back of our minds like an open festering wound.
When my son, Caleb was younger these times would stress me out. Not knowing prevented me from moving forward and making plans. How can I plan when there is so much uncertainty? Most of my prayer journals are filled with my prayers asking God to give me the answers. Or asking Him to give me peace while I waited or strength to move forward, etc. Truth is, I didn’t want to wait. I wanted the answer now. I was the toddler who didn’t know how to wait her turn and threw a tantrum when she didn’t get what she wanted when she wanted it.
What I’ve learned
But waiting is inevitable and getting anxious every time I was in a waiting season wasn’t good for me mentally or physically. I needed to create a plan to weather it, kind of like a Waiting Preparedness kit.
My plan is pretty simple: I pray, journal and confide in a close friend. And if it’s an especially hard season, I take a full solitude day. Having a plan to weather my waiting season has made it more bearable.
Waiting can’t be avoided. Research and discovery take time and solving puzzles isn’t instantaneous. But we can make the waiting comfortable by coming up with a Waiting Preparedness kit. Find out what you can do to make the waiting more comfortable for you.