Ask any pregnant woman who’s only a few weeks away from delivering, and she will most likely tell you that one of the biggest “wonder” in waiting is wondering when in the world the baby will get here so she’ll feel better.
This is especially true in my daughter’s case. She’s had an awful first pregnancy. She’s had morning/afternoon/evening sickness almost every day, and none of the anti-nausea medications have helped. She’s been hospitalized with dehydration twice and has had to have IV fluids at home off and on for months. She has heartburn every day, and there are only certain foods she can eat without being sick. Her back and hips are hurting so bad it’s hard to sit for any length of time, and hard to get a good night’s sleep.
Don’t get me wrong…she and her husband are very excited over their soon-to-be-born daughter. They’re wondering who she’ll look like (I’m betting on my daughter). If she’ll be born with hair, and if it’ll be curly. They’re wondering what it’ll be like to be parents, and be responsible for the life of someone else.
They’re nervous, too, especially our daughter, because she’s never had a baby before, and as much as her friends have been able to tell her about their experiences, it’s different for every mother, and she’s wondering what it will really be like.
And she’s wondering what it will be like to hold her own daughter in her arms for the very first time.
There’s wonder in every kind of waiting.
We wonder if we’ll get that new job we’ve interviewed for. Then we wonder how we’ll do when we actually start.
A young girl wonders if that first date with the guy who asked her out will be fun and lead to a relationship, or result in another miserable evening.
A nursing student wonders and worries if she’s studied enough to pass her final test so she can complete her dream.
These are wonders. But it’s a wonder of anticipating whether or not something will happen. It’s curiosity. And too often our wonder stays in that definition, instead of the other definition of wonder.
Wonder is also a noun. It means awe. Amazement. A feeling of surprise at the beauty of something.
Children know the wonder of waiting. Yes, they’re impatient, and they don’t wait for things very well. But when something wonderful happens for them, when their waiting for a reward is over, and it’s finally given to them, the joy in their faces is without equal. You can literally see the amazement and awe…the wonder…on their faces.
Too often we adults merely just anticipate something happening rather than being amazed when it does. We easily lose the miracle, the joy, of the moment.
Anticipating the event happening, the waiting for something to happen, should make us excited about the new possibilities coming our way. And when the call comes, when the event takes place, when the dream is realized…we should be as excited and ALMOST as much in awe and amazement as our daughter and son-in-law will be when they hold their newborn daughter for the first time.
The sacrifice and pain are sometimes part of the waiting. But when that wait is over, and the rewards are received, you realize it’s all worth it.
What are you waiting for? Are you wondering when it will happen? Or are you waiting for your moment of wonder? And when it comes what will you do with it? Will you simply say “finally!” or like a child, will you be thankful and thrilled with the amazement of the moment?
Don’t be afraid to be like a child again, and take time to enjoy the wonder that comes from the waiting. Because you never know what’s around the corner.