Thursday, June 9, 2011

Worth the Wait

I used to consider myself a fairly patient person.  As I got older, though, my patience grew thin.  I was ready for life to begin.  I wanted to date and get married and start a family.  That's all I ever wanted.  However, it just wasn't happening as quickly as I wanted it to.

I graduated from college, started teaching, and would go home and sit alone each night.  Yes, I could have been proactive and tried to do something about it, but my personality isn't one to go out and mingle.  And since the majority of my friends were already occupied with boyfriends, husbands, and children, it's not like I had many people to go out with.  So, I waited.  And waited.  I was set up many times, had many interesting dates, and even met some great guys.  On the Not So Great Guys list, there was the one who told me at the end of the date that he was hungry.  He asked if I was also.  When I said no, he told me it was because I ate more than he did at dinner earlier in the evening.  Uhm, excuse me?  I was the one taking home leftovers, not him!  Then there was the one who reminded me of Lord Farquaad from Shrek.  Remember the scene where he rides up on a horse looking so valiant, but when he got off the horse he was really short?  Well, I met him at a restaurant, he was waiting for me on a bar stool.  He seemed fine when I first saw him....until he jumped off the stool and was a little runt.  Yeah, that's not going to work!  I could go on, but for the sake of your boredom, I won't.

It was actually my mom who told me to try online dating.  The first service I tried was eHarmony.  That has a national database, right?  OK, so what does it say about me when out of all the participants nationally, they could only match me with three people?  Sad, huh?  Only one of those three actually contacted me, and he was one weird dude.  We never met, but I had no desire to meet.

Then came the next dating site.  A few dates that didn't work out, and then....bingo!  I met Kris.  I knew I liked him on our very first date.  It wasn't long until I knew that he was THE one.  However, the timeline in his mind didn't exactly match mine.  So, I waited.  Well, I didn't have to wait too long.  We dated for a year before getting engaged.  And then six months later, we were married.  Tomorrow, we celebrate our fifth anniversary.  These past five years have been the very best ever!  He was definitely worth the wait.

So, what's next?  I didn't want to wait too long before having children, but I also wanted to enjoy married life for a bit too.  And obviously, God wanted me to enjoy it a while too.  Because when we felt we were ready, God felt otherwise.  So we waited.  And waited.  And went to doctors.  And more doctors.  Then it happened.  We were blessed with Sadie, who turned one last Saturday.  Believe me, she was definitely worth the wait.  What a treasure she is!

The point of all this......God always blesses.  In His time.  The things/people He chooses to give you are always worth the wait.  Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9  That verse was my lifeline for several years.  I had to keep trusting that I would reap a harvest at the proper time (not necessarily MY time) if I didn't give up.  So, I waited.  And it was worth it!!

3 comments:

Jenni said...

Aww I love this post so very much! I'm going to share it with my friend who has been trying to have a child for over 5 years.
Thankful that God blessed your life and our family with Kris & Sadie!

Anonymous said...

Love it! Ryan and I met online also (didn't know that about you guys) and we are WAITING for the baby part!

Elizabeth said...

Happy Anniversary! Oh, the days of bad dates and online dating- yikes! I'm glad those days are over (for both of us!). I can't believe it's been FIVE years- seems like yesterday we were waking up in the hotel the morning of your wedding- such a fun day!