My Blog is in a Holding Pattern

I have never been in an airplane that had to circle the airport waiting for permission to land.  I imagine that it could be a minor inconvenience, or it could possibly turn into a scary proposition.  I have been feeling, lately, that my own life is in a holding pattern, and so I have been thinking of the best ways to cope until everything gets resolved and we get to land at our planned destination.  Of course, that makes me wonder if we have maybe boarded the wrong "plane" and the whole outcome will be changed - but that is a topic for a whole other blog.  Let's assume that we have made the right travel plans and now the task is just to keep on until this particular leg of the flight is finished.  What does one do to make the time productive as we circle the airport?  I assume that my Air Traffic Controller is God, since He has been in control of my life since at least 1955, so I am at His mercy on this flight.  The pilot of my plane is Jesus, since I asked Him to guide and direct me and have never changed my mind about that choice.  The Stewardess or helper on this flight is the Holy Spirit and also God's Holy Word and other Christian mentors.  So I have all I need for a successful outcome.

The passengers on this flight with me are mostly family, friends, those who care about me and mine.  What we can mostly do is engage each other in conversation about our experiences and where we are headed.  We must encourage each other,  pray with each other, relate our past experiences in similar holding situations.  We must learn emergency procedures (just in case), tie up loose ends , walk around if we can - for our health, listen for instructions from those in charge, remind ourselves why we trust our pilot, be kind to all around us and share.  I guess we should keep doing the next thing to do, and then try to enjoy the view out the window!  

It is interesting to note that a synonym for holding pattern is "doldrums".  Since that is how I am sometimes feeling, my blog site is also in the doldrums - feeling like I have nothing important to share.  However, this morning I decided to write anyway, sharing what I am learning from this situation in my life.  Eventually, all this will become a written devotional, since that is how I operate.  But for now I am just in the outline and research stage - open to comments and suggestions.  This morning I was reading in Hebrews, chapter 3 about how we are warned to listen to the Holy Spirit and be careful to hear His voice today so our hearts do not become set against Him, as the people of Israel did.  They complained and steeled themselves against Him in the desert while He was testing them.  "Their hearts were always looking somewhere else instead of up to me, and they never found the paths I wanted them to follow."  I want to be looking up to Him in this desert time (holding pattern) so that I will be following the paths He has planned for me and not miss His promised rest and reward.

Allow me a little personal thought right here:  if we are in this holding pattern above "earth" so long that (or because) we are not destined for the airport but for a higher and better place, let me be a little excited.  That would be another satisfactory conclusion to this whole thing.  If not Red Cloud, then Heaven!  Who could complain!  Do you think I will have permanent curls in Heaven?  I do!!!

Page 2 of 2

Today as I sat in our car waiting for my husband, I looked down and saw a note I had written on some scrap paper. The corner of the scrap paper noted that it was page 2 of 2 and that got me thinking. I love to turn innocent signs into funny messages and this was no exception. I thought that it would make a good status report for my facebook account or for my yahoo account but I could see the many questions it would raise among my friends and family. So I decided to flesh it out on my blog site. My first thought was that, "Yes, that is where I am at in life - I am on page 2 of 2. But when did page 1 flip over to 2? Was it at age 33 and the end may be soon? Or did it turn at age 66 and I have lots of time left - or maybe at age 50 and ...well you get the picture." Then I thought about how this page 2 of 2 is just an extra attachment to the real receipt that we had printed for an online bill payment. It was really kind of useless in one way, but very useful for scrap paper needs. Some may have thrown it away, but I was happy to recycle it. Then I said to my husband, "this will preach!" kind of similar to "that dog will hunt", etc. You know, none of us knows just what page we are on in our life span. Good thing we don't know - saves a lot of unnecessary worry and stress. Maybe the best is yet to come, and maybe not. Either way, the Person at the word processor is in charge and we can just relax and let Him finish His story as He plans. Secondly, in His plan, there is no useless paper at the end. He only prints out what is needed and if it looks useless to me -well I just better be getting busy and recycling it and finding new uses for it! In the same way that the pot does not question the Potter, so the paper does not get to question the Printer ( a little license with Romans 9:21). I just love the One who created me, and I feel confident that His plan for me is best. Wherever I am in His story for me, I want to give Him glory and meet His expectations!