Waiting

Lately, C.S. Lewis and I keep crossing paths. I think I have a journey reading his books in my future, but for now I see his quotes. Today, my husband and I were getting blood work done. Planning ahead, we had gotten two specimen containers last visit, so we were even prepared in that area too. Sometimes it’s hard to force a specimen if you’ve been fasting. Which we were. So in we go to the lab. The waiting room was FULL. We registered and took a seat. Jim was balancing our “specimens” on his lap. I was across the room. Young, old, able, infirm we waited…silently.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is food for him to wait.” And wait we did. Initially, the waiting room was exceptionally quiet. No one really looked at each other. No one spoke. A man in his thirties offered my husband a seat. Jim said, “thanks, but I’m still pretty young and I can stand.” I joked, “Yes, he’s younger than the new Pope!” Some laughter. Enough to give me license to now engage. The door opens and someone with an appointment comes in and the lab tech yells, “Mrs. So and So with an appointment.” An appointment! How’d she do that! Why didn’t I do that? In she went and the rest of us continued our wait. The door opened again and in came a mom with a carriage and a little one. Two women who’d been there for a while commented on the bench they shared.

As we waited, we began to develop a comradery. A woman in a chair offered to switch seats with the bench lady. Discussion about coffee began. When someone was called, the group gave a cheer. We were moving! Yay!! The group began to good naturedly tease the appointments. The kids played right outside of the door, and as children were, they were a bit noisy. No one seemed to bother. My husband, Jim, commented that our specimens might have evaporated, much to the laughter of the room.

Finally, we were called. Elizabeth was pleasant and smiling. Elizabeth was working all by herself. Her coworker had called out sick, so she had to register the patients and draw the specimens. Wow, and that room just kept filling up. But as I thought about our wait, I thought about a group of strangers who slowly bonded in patience and humor. Who began to support and care for each other. And Elizabeth who masterfully managed us all with kindness and efficiency. What a lesson to learn on a Monday morning.

We often hit forks in the road where we can choose to move forward in anger and frustration. Or we can choose to see strangers as people. We can choose humor and kindness. Today, after fasting for bloodwork, God gave us the food of kinship and shared experience. What a great breakfast! What a gift!