Microwaves and the presence of God

I just finished making Trent and Kate sandwiches for lunch.  When I finish making their lunches I'm never excited about doing it again for me - so I tend to scavenge for food here and there instead of making a proper lunch.  Today was no different.  I found some brie in the fridge and pulled out some crackers.  But Brie is one of those cheeses that is best eaten at room temperature.  Yeah, that would mean waiting a whole hour or so and I was hungry NOW.  So I placed the brie in the microwave at low power and stood in front of it, watching the cheese get softer - and that is when God decided to reveal something to me about waiting.  Actually, I have been dealing with this "waiting" issue for quite a while now - adoption is like a pressure-cooker for the learning how to wait patiently.  But standing in front of the microwave, wanting my cheese to hurry up and soften, I thought about how very much like my attitude towards waiting can be.

People are starting to ask more often as the months go by about where we are at in our adoption process.  We started the process with an agency 13 months ago and are coming up on 9 months on a waitlist for our referral.  So I have had to learn what patience looks like daily.  And I love to talk to people about our dreams and the process of adoption.  But I caught myself saying the same thing to people when they asked how things were going.  "Oh, we're still waiting.  We are definitely learning patience through the wait."

But I am sure that "patience" is not the goal for the waiting.  A quality of character is not the end result of trials.  It may be the fruit of the experience, but it isn't why God uses waiting to teach us.  I may be waiting but what I am beginning to learn (very slowly!) is that God really just longs for me to be in His presence.  He wants me to surrender the "waiting" so that I can begin to say "Yes, Lord.  I trust You with EVERYTHING I AM."  He wants my surrendered heart and right now He is using patience as a means to that end.

I know that trying to speed up the process of waiting to bring Penelope home is futile.  Just like standing in front of the microwave to speed up my cheese only to find it melted unevenly and didn't turn out as beautifully as it may have had I given it time to reach the right temperature naturally.  I can grumble, I can stamp my feet, I can pout and even get angry at the waiting but that would not allow the Holy Spirit room to speak, to nurture my heart towards surrender.  So, today I claim the promises of God, my savior...

"Be amazed... for in your days I am doing a work, a work that you will never believe even if someone tells you."  Acts 13:41

I'm sure there are plenty of microwaves in my future but I also pray that God allows me to "tarry" with Him in the waiting.