Waiting

At a family Christmas gathering last year, some cousins Abby Bette's age were painting their fingernails, so she asked me if she could too. Envisioning Grandma's house covered in smeared pink polish, I flippantly told her she can't paint her nails until she was three. 

Well all these months later, she remembered. 

For several weeks leading up to her birthday (August 25), she was telling everybody with ears to hear that she was "turning three and painting her nails." Strangers in the grocery store.... our mailman....people at the swimming pool.... joggers running by our stroller....pretty much everyone in the tri-state area has caught wind about her upcoming nail polish ceremony. It is a big deal.

A few days before her birthday, I took just her to the cosmetics area at Walmart and stood her in front of the nail polish wall for her to pick out her color. She was a little overwhelmed until she spotted a row of sparkle polish, then finally settled on the blue one. 

Blue glitter polish it is, sweet girl. 

The night before her birthday, she was on the couch with me watching Little Einsteins on my ipad, which was sitting on the coffee table about three feet away. We were soooooo comfortable. The episode we were watching went off and you know how Netflix is, you can wait ten seconds or click the box for the next episode to start right up. 

Well, Abs was not content under our blanket all snuggled up to wait the ten seconds. She sat up, threw off the blanket, struggled out of my lap and onto the floor, then tapped for the next episode. 

Watching her impatience made me realize that she has never had to wait on anything. She doesn't really know what commercials are since she watches only PBS or Netflix. She wakes up and her food is magically set out and ready for her. The examples go on and on.

I don't think nail polish before the age of three is harmful at all. But I'm glad I made her wait. I've decided maybe it's good practice. Like building up an immunity of sorts.

As adults, we're really no better than toddlers when it comes to waiting. Promotions at work....finding a spouse....if you're like me, having a baby.... if you're like me, waiting on an adoption list. Again, the examples go on and on. 

Waiting on Abby Bette, well really the concept of Abby Bette, was the biggest challenge of my life. There is so much waiting: background check to come through (six weeks), Home Study completed (two months), Birth Family to choose you out of a huge pile (indefinite). 

I was terrible at waiting; I was the worst ever at it. 

I went through periods of sadness, then anger, then bitterness and jealousy. It's exhausting. 

Scripture tells us many times to wait on the Lord, but what does that really look like in certain situations? I don't have the answer, sorry. But I do believe we can pray for those we know are in a time of wait. 

Here are the last names of several families I know who are currently on an adoption waiting list. If you're reading this, would you please commit to praying for one or all? I'm only including their last name if they have publicly  acknowledged their adoption plans. For my friends who are still keeping their adoption plans to themselves for now or who are in a confidential fostering situation, I'm just including the first initial of their last name. (I know I'm leaving somebody off. Rats.)

Cook Family

Thomas Family

Skaggs Family

A Family

R Family

Bourn Family

E Family

F Family
Taylor Family

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Let's pray this verse over these families. Waiting on your children to come home is so hard.  Thank you to all the family and friends who prayed us through. 

Oh, and to finish Abby Bette's finger nail polish story, painting her nails together was one of the most memorable things of my life. She absolutely loved it. We've had to touch them up quite a few times, and every time we get that polish out, she gives me this joyful look that just makes me melt. Making her wait turned a mundane thing into a rite of passage for her. 

I hope doing things like this when she is young helps her build up her patience muscle. I hope when she's all grown up, if she has to wait on something that is big and important to her, she won't turn to anger or bitterness like I did but instead truly trusts in the Lord. 

But for right now, waiting for her blue glitter polish to dry is good enough  :)