The other day I went for my “free” recall repair of a defective airbag assembly in my trusty Honda Pilot. The repair came with a “free” loaner car. What wasn’t so free was the time I spent waiting… For the rental car company to pick me up. For the rental car car company to have a car for me to rent. For the rental car company to get the car I was going to use cleaned.

I had some morning appointments… that had to be moved. Philosophically, I tried to see it as a chance to relax and play a mindless round of games on my phone. I tried to look polite (and not as annoyed as I felt) when I got the next update that started with, “well, it’s going to be a little longer because…”

There are times like these “hurry up and wait” moments where one’s patience is tested and one’s upbringing to be courteous and kind is challenged. And then… I thought of the times that I had kept someone waiting. More times than I would care to admit, actually! Sometimes it was because I planned poorly and didn’t take into account the traffic I might face. Sometimes it was because an errand or a phone call chewed up more time than I planned. And sometimes… it was a lovely intersection of bad luck and someone else’s poor planning.

Ugh. Not a fan of waiting. Not at all!!!

Hurry up and wait…

My friends in the military use that phrase to describe the time they spend in formation, waiting for a dignitary (or officer of the day) to show up. It seems pointless. It appears arbitrary. It’s also a good way to describe the way I have grumbled against God not being on my timeframe for an answer to prayer.

In the end, the car had to stay in the shop another day because they ran out of parts. And yes, I got to drive a zippy little sports car (for free — almost — I did have to buy gas!) as I blasted XM radio rock stations. The chaplain rocked her caseload that day. Not a bad result from all that waiting.

OH… wait a minute… I get it…

Amen.