Songs have been written about it.
Tom Petty’s 1981 “The Waiting,” Carly Simon’s 1971 “Anticipation," The Kinks 1965 “Tired of Waiting,” and B.B. King’s “Don’t Keep Me Waiting.”
As I write this Wednesday morning, we are all waiting in expectation. We wait watchfully. In case you hadn’t heard, a record number of neighbors all across the U.S. just voted and are awaiting the election results. I’m hopeful that as you read this Saturday morning, we will know the results.
I innocently asked the Hubby what instances of waiting in his lifetime stand out.
Hubby quickly ticked off, “Waiting on (the amount we need to pay in) taxes every year, vacations, Christmas morning … and for you to get out of the car.”
Me, actually astonished, “What do you mean you wait for me to get out of the car?”
“It’s a thing — ask the girls,” Hubby said.
But back to the topic of waiting.
In author Mo Willem’s 2014 children’s book “Waiting is Not Easy,” Piggie announces he has a surprise for his friend Gerald, the elephant — but he has to wait to receive it. You must wait until the final pages to find out if it was worth the wait. You can borrow this book from the local public library or watch it being read on YouTube.
A few moments of personal waiting that initially come to mind have included: waiting for my three daughters to be born to find out their gender and to name them; awaiting the first hosta pips to erupt through the soil every spring; watching for the first slight tug on the end of my fishing pole signaling the hope of a walleye shore lunch, or waiting for the results of a fundraiser to clothe and feed children in a children’s home.
One thing we all have in common — throughout our lives we will have waited numerous times for hours, days, months, years or seemingly forever.
One song about waiting was written by an unlikely king years before Petty, Simon, The Kinks and B.B. King. Estimated to have been written over 3,000 years ago, King David wrote Psalm 5:3 for the director of music, accompanied by pipes.
Psalm 5:1-3
For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
We can all be relieved that wait expectantly is hard but quite normal.
Janet Hommel Mangas grew up on the east side of Greenwood. The Center Grove area resident and her husband are the parents of three daughters. Send comments to [email protected].
