WAITING PATIENTLY

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     The grandson of my neighbor was a cute trusting little boy.  He and his sister lived with his grandmother who kept a meticulous front yard of flowers accentuated by two evergreen bushes.  He was about eight years old when I suggested that someday he would be as tall as the shrubs which dwarfed him at the time.  Yet, every new birthday, I would ask him how old he was and have him stand by the bush to compare his height.  He, inevitably, was not there yet.  It would appear that he had some expectation walking over to the bush that they would be on par. Thus, he would ask, “Miss Ethel, am I as tall as the bush yet?”  He wasn’t, and I would state that some day he was going to be a big boy and would be as tall as the bush. 

     I do not know how he felt in between the days of the year after a birthday and before the next one.  More than likely he went about his business and got absorbed in other things of childhood, perhaps checking himself near the bush from time to time on his own.

     One day I was standing outside the fence to his yard.  His grandfather was in the yard, as well as he.  I had no thought about his progress when he caught me off guard and said, “Miss Ethel, look!”  He was standing next to the bush inside the yard and opposite me.  I looked for a moment not realizing what he wanted me to see when all of a sudden I got it!  Not only was he the height of the bush, but he was actually slightly taller.  While placing my arm out like a ruler over his head, he beamed with a smile from ear to ear.  I exclaimed with great celebration that he was now a young man.

     As adults, sometimes we have to wait – even a long time to see hoped for results.  In that period of time we are to experience the process of Life unfolding and things evolving and changing whether they are apparent or not.

“Waiting is the missing link in the transformation process.”  (Sue Monk Kidd)

© Dr. Ethel Drayton-Craig, 2010