Waiting

I went to Assiniboine Park this afternoon to spend some time with God. I've been developing a routine for the summer days and part of that routine is stopping at the park, finding a spot of beauty, sitting in my mini-van with the windows open and, day by day, making my way through a Bible study on the life of David. Today after my study, I sat in quiet contemplation asking God to show me what he wants me to see, to tell me what he wants me to hear, but at first there was nothing.

I usually spend these times of contemplative prayer with my eyes closed but I was surrounded by such beauty of nature I decided to keep them open. It was the branch of a tree that caught my attention. Somehow I knew there was something caught in the lacing of leaves that held God's message for me. I didn't see it at first and so I waited. Aren't we told to wait on the Lord?

I began to hum the song,

In Your time
In Your time
You make all things beautiful
In Your time

Lord please show me every day
As You're teaching me Your way
And I'll do just what You say
In Your time

and I got to thinking. Time! Waiting takes time!

I was parked on Formal Garden Way which is shaded by an arching row of elm trees on either side. Assiniboine Park is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. I wonder what it was like those first years? Was it barren prairie dotted with seedling trees? What drew people to the park then? Was there shade? It certainly wasn't lush with the foliage we now have. The park I enjoyed today is the product of waiting--waiting 100 years for infant trees to mature into giants whose shadows provide welcome coolness for cyclists, skaters, strollers, me and the mosquitoes.

Waiting. How long am I willing to wait on God?