Waiting

My mum is an expert in waiting. Her friends think she's naturally patient, but I know she's not. It's just that she's learnt patience the hard way - by waiting.

Right now there's a plumber fixing all the cold water plumbing along the back of her house. There had been leaking all through the last year, and Mum didn't know where it was coming from.

The obvious solution seemed to be to get a plumber in - sooner rather than later. We've heard enough stories of rotten walls etc. to be worried about it.

But Mum kept on saying God was telling her it's okay, to wait.

To Marie and me, this seemed like overspiritualising the issue. Mum's not the most proactive person in the world, and this seemed like using God as an excuse to do nothing.

But y'know what, when she finally did need a plumber about a month ago, we found out why God said wait.

Not just one junction but ALL the junctions of the piping were leaking. The glue used to put them together cheaply back in 1968 had perished.

If she'd responded immediately last year, she would've had to get a plumber back several times to fix each leak as it came up.

God cares about our lives in the minor details, as well as the big stuff like eternal destiny. And when we let Him, he uses our life to tell a story more powerful than anything we could think up.

Powerful? Is that the right word? A dozen leaking pipes doesn't sound powerful, but it's in the conglomeration of these minutiae that we realise God is looking after us.