Stuck in the Waiting Room

Have you ever gone to a doctor appointment and gotten stuck in the waiting room? You made sure you left your house on time and arrived to the appointment early. Next, you are seated in the waiting room and sit there for well past your scheduled appointment time, wondering when the waiting will end, if ever? The frustration grows with every passing minute. This “waiting room” can be used in both the literal and figurative sense. In all seasons of life, we can sometimes feel like we are trapped in a perpetual sense of waiting.

After I had five brain hemorrhages and brain surgery I was stuck in one of the most dreadful waiting rooms. I had recently celebrated my 23rd birthday and now was bound to a wheelchair unable to move half of my body. I was working vigorously in physical therapy, but stroke rehab can feel like watching grass grow. This equipped with my young age was only a recipe for monumental impatience! I remember feeling as though this would never end and all the hard work I was doing was just going to waste. Oh, how I was wrong! God blessed me with the strength to keep fighting and regain my independence. It took a while, but I did get out of that wheelchair and can proudly say today that the waiting room I endured during this time helped shape me into the person I am today. For that, I am immensely grateful!

Have you ever felt like this? Whether your waiting room was waiting for a spouse, improvement in your health, a job, or maybe at an actual dentist office. We have all been there and we will continue to face new waiting rooms as we move into different seasons of our lives. I urge you to think about the previous waiting rooms in your life and what happened as a result of them. What did you learn from them? Try and recall those lessons and apply them to any future waiting rooms you may face.

Maybe you are currently in a waiting room while reading this. If that is the case, I want you to know you won’t be waiting forever. Try and trust the process. Try and find what you can learn while waiting, what you can strengthen within yourself. Although this feels never-ending, this will pass and all you have to do is be Head Strong.