Waiting

Waiting…the last 3 ½ months have been a lesson in the art of waiting gracefully. It’s one that I don’t do so well, but I have learned a lot and grown a lot from the experience. We moved out of our apartment on August 26th and in with friends for 2 ½ months…waiting until the calendar turned to November 15th when we used our one-way tickets to get here. We have been here three weeks today waiting to move into our apartment. As we inch closer to our move in date, which sees to be just right outside of our grasp this past week, I am more and more impatient. Isn’t this true with all things we are waiting for? The closer we get the more the anticipation grows and it seems like the day will never arrive. I am thinking about being a child and looking forward to Christmas Day. So much anticipation growing and building and then on Christmas Eve you can’t sleep because you are about to burst. Well, never one to be patient, I am about to burst as we are hopeful we can move in this week. And the anticipation is about to drive me to insanity.
Lesson one in waiting: Take the culture and customs into consideration as you anticipate how long you are going to be waiting. Let me just say that the way things are done here is very different from the way I am accustomed. There are some things I will not take for granted in the future when I return to the U.S. It seems everything we have had to do to move once we have been here has taken twice (or more) the work and time promised or planned. Eric goes down to the electric company (goes down because they won’t turn on your service by phone) and after registering they tell him it will take 3-4 days for his application to be approved. He calls back after the promised time to find out that his application will be approved tomorrow (it’s always tomorrow, I tell you). He goes back to the office “tomorrow” and signs the contract and THEN he’s told it will now take 3-4 days to actually turn on the electricity in our apartment. Getting our things out of customs at the port is an entirely different set of circumstances that have required much effort and many trips, and I won’t get into all of it here. Let me just say that Eric has been amazing at taking care of all of the details, and has been very patient with me asking him every hour what the update is on customs, electricity installation, telephone and internet installation, etc. And, being the take charge person I am, I have had to let him take care of it all and just try to be patient and not hold a serious grudge against the inefficiency I see here in my new country. I keep telling myself one of the first things I ever learned about experiencing another culture many years ago, “It’s DIFFERENT, not wrong or bad.”
Everyday that passes I am sitting in my mother-in-law’s apartment taking care of Little Eric, who has contracted a nasty Dominican cold, waiting for a “yes” answer to all of the above.
Lesson two in waiting: Perseverance produces character… a biblical principle that has been a challenge to embrace lately. The entire verse from the book of Romans says, “We rejoice in our own sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and, character, hope.” What we have been going through is nothing like the early followers of Christ suffering for their faith described here, but I can relate in my own sort of way and am so hopeful this experience is going to produce some character in me. Maybe it will make me a more laid back person who is able to go with the flow and graciously accept the things that are out of my control. I must admit that I don’t do that well. I suppose we all have limits. I have done my fair share of complaining to Eric. I have had some pretty low moments over the past three weeks, well 3 ½ months really. I feel isolated a lot here in this big Caribbean city. I can’t leave the house by myself, I can’t drive yet, we are sharing a car with Eric’s mom, I can’t get online or watch TV often, I have one book in English because all of the others are packed and I finished it yesterday, etc. Well, really there are a lot of other things I complain about, too, but the details aren’t important. What I think is important is that I use these isolating moments, or experiences where I have to wait and wait and wait to push through and persevere and hope that my character is going to be affected for the better. Hey, already I can tell you that without a lot to do while I am at home alone with Eric I have prayed more than I have in a long time.
Lesson three in waiting: Remember nothing is forever, even if it seems like it. As the days sometimes drag by (and sometimes fly by) I am trying to remind myself that we will soon be in our apartment and the waiting will be over. The unpacking will begin and our life will find its own rhythm here.
So, here I am waiting and trying to be patient in the meantime. The graceful part of waiting and honestly the part that is the hardest for me is waiting without letting my ugly side come out. Soon we’ll have a new place to call home and I am sure there will be yet another lesson to be learned around the corner.