Hurry Up and Wait!

Hurry Up and Wait!

by Rachel Baird

When my husband and I first got married, I heard that the motto of the Air Force is, “Hurry up and wait!”  They weren’t kidding!  If you have spent any time within any military organization, you will find this to be true.  We have been stationed at a Navy base, an Army post, and multiple Air Force bases.  None of them are respecters of persons.  They are mostly the same.  Most documentation needed for programs and promotions are needed yesterday, but you will wait months to find out the results.  It is frustrating to say the least!

As a spouse, it can be very easy to get into a groove of wanting to nag our husbands about; when they will know… how long they will be gone… when will they leave… when will we move… how much longer do we have to put up with the politics… why do all the other wives seem to know more I do?  The answer is simple.  He doesn’t know.  That was a tough pill for me to swallow once I was actually willing to listen to reason.  He really didn’t know.  And even worse, he had no control over it either!

I spent countless hours arguing and bickering with him.  I really believed that by me pitching a fit, I would convince him to clue me in on the answers.  All it did was drive a wedge between us.  It frustrated him and started to brew bitterness in our marriage. 

Reality.  Patience is a virtue.  Hurry up is not.  As military wives, our patience is tried in more ways weekly than many civilian spouses will experience in months.  I don’t have to explain our lifestyle to you, you live it.  However, I can challenge you!  I can challenge you to realize that God knows exactly where we are in our lives.  God placed us with a purpose with our spouses in our location.  He is stretching us through daily experiences to mold us to be exactly what He wants us to be.  We can either pass or fail.  We can look to Him for help, or we can continue to make everyone miserable around us.

What will you make of where you are in your life?  Will you continue to worry and nag or trust that God has already figured out all the details?  He will guide you through whatever you are going to face, if you will just ask.

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Romans 5:3-5

You can read more from Rachel at www.something2say.com