How to Navigate a Waiting Season

March 17, 2020.

The day the world shut down for us. School closed. Daycare closed. We thought 2 weeks would be enough time to let things settle down.

Yet here we are, 2 years later. And dare I say: Ever since spring of 2020, life has just felt a little extra heavy.  

Of course I’m also writing this in the wake of a horrible school shooting in Texas, so maybe my view point is a little skewed. My heart simply feels weary and less like it’s normal, joyous self.

Either way, the past 24 months have felt like road bump after road bump. Not only are there hard and horrible things happening in the world around me, but I also feel like the entire timeline I had in mind has slowed to a screeching halt.

I feel deep in the trenches of a waiting season.

Especially this first part of 2022. Without going into too much detail, we had some big plans for this year and it feels like everything has been placed on hold. I think again and again, God is reminding me that I have less control over my timeline than I think I do.

How about you, friend? How are you doing? Do you feel like life is on hold and extra heavy? Feel like you’re in a waiting season, too? If so, you’re not alone. Hopefully this post is timely and helpful for you as you navigate similar trenches. Here’s what I’m learning + what’s helping me through my current waiting season:  

Dig into being present.

What helps me the most during waiting seasons is to simply focus on the next 24 hours right in front of me. I have to get super focused, and super intentional, otherwise my mind tends to run away with itself and get me all worked up about the things that aren’t going the way I had hoped.

This is not an easy feat. My mind can wonder several times a day. I have to constantly pull it back to the present. For reference, here are a few things that help me do that:

• Putting a focus on my health and wellbeing. What can I do today to take good care of myself? What’s a healthy dish I can whip up for lunch? How much water have I had to drink today?
• Looking for and reflecting on small, joyful moments with the kiddos. 10 minutes on the trampoline, a walk in the park, or game night all count! 
• Getting out of the house and into nature. There’s something super refreshing about shutting out the noise and just enjoying God’s creation.
• Celebrating the small things. As an achiever, I operate best having some sort of goal to shoot for. When all the big stuff feels far off, it helps me to celebrate the small wins. What are some wins happening right now that I can celebrate?

Ultimately, I want to pay attention to how I’m spending my time while I’m in a waiting season. Am I being intentional? Or am I just wishing time away? (Side note: I sometimes still find myself wishing time away. I don’t think we can be perfect at this. And that’s ok.)

Embrace Trust + Hope.

As mentioned in the last point, my mind‘s tendency is to put all the focus on what’s NOT happening. (Anyone else?🙋‍♀️) This focus on the scarcity – on the NOT have’s – only leads to a path of fear and frustration. If I’m going to make it through a waiting season gracefully, then I need to focus on the good stuff: Trust and hope.

Trust:

As I’ve discussed in other posts, I’m a BIT of a control freak. (And by a bit, I mean A LOT. But anyway…)

I struggle when I don’t see a timeline ahead or know what’s coming up next. How do I plan? How do I set goals or know which direction to go next? How do I live life? I’ve had a tendency in the past to channel my inner toddler and throw a fit. I don’t like it.

Truthfully, I think my 30’s have been a large undoing of my control-freak nature. I’ve been slowly learning to let go of things I’ve spent my entire life white-knuckling, and grab hold of the truth that God’s got me.

When I look back at what He’s already done for me and what He says about me, I’m reminded of his faithfulness. I can trust that He will see me through this waiting season, too. Even though I don’t have as much control as I’d like. (Especially when I don’t have as much control as I’d like.)

Hope:

Because I’m a #hopelessoptimistic, hopefulness feels fun to me. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my moments! I still have plenty of times when I’m wondering what the heck is going on and how this is going to work out.

But I’m learning that it’s more fun to be expectant. To look for the good + the potential for the future. Hope is one of those things we can cling to when the road before us is hard to see.

Choose rest.

When life feels like it’s moving at break-neck speed, maybe a waiting season is a good time to embrace slowing down and being still. Sometimes I wonder if because I’m avoiding rest and using all of my energy striving for the next thing is the reason why God puts me in a waiting season. Ya know? I’m not a real great listener, so perhaps being forced to slow down, rest, and wait is exactly what I need.

I read a blog post a while back entitled, “How to thrive through a waiting season.” I get the idea the author was going for. But honestly (and this is my own personal opinion), I don’t think we were made to thrive and excel through these challenging seasons.

Sometimes these seasons are meant to be low points. Even though I’m a total optimist, I’m realizing that seasons of hardship, of wanting more, of realizing lack of control just are. It stinks, I know. All of my Enneagram 3-ness wants to run from unpleasant emotions, but maybe a waiting season is a good time to fully feel my feelings and just be. Rest and be.

Remember that this truly is a season.

The greatest, greatest amount of hope I have during a waiting season is the truth that it truly is just. a. season.

Yes, I want the discomfort to be over. I want my timeline to be met and I want life to speed up FOR GOODNESS SAKES!

Truthfully, when things get difficult, all I can think about is running away. Maybe things would be easier if I just threw in the towel and quit it all. Maybe we should move or go on a new trip. All of my instincts go to how I can make life fun again and not hard.

Unfortunately, I also know that if I push through and rush things, I’m doing myself a disservice in the long run. I think often God is simply asking me to stay and persevere through the difficult and waiting seasons. So I have to ask myself: Because I won’t be in this season forever, what can I learn from it?

And also, I have this phrase on repeat in my mind: This is just a season. This is just a season. This is just a season.

Wrapping Up. 

I wouldn’t say I’m out of my waiting season yet. But I do feel like I’m slowly learning to embrace it and accept it for what it is. I’m learning to sit tight and focus on what I can do. I’m resting, journaling, and planning what I can. Last, I’ll leave you with this quote from Morgan Harper Nichols that I’m using as the current lock screen on my phone:

**OVER TO YOU: How you truly doing, friend? Feel like you’re in a waiting season? Or like life just feels hard right now? Me too. Let’s chat in the comments below or feel free to send me a DM over here on Instagram!