Living the "In Between"

In the past twelve months, we have spent a lot of time living in the "in between." Days without resolution. Days and weeks of waiting for one thing or another to happen. Days of hoping (and sometimes dread). Days of the imperfect.

When I "gathered the moments" in March, I dubbed that month "The Month of In Between" for that seemed best to describe the lingering, waiting moments of those days. But there have been many such days this year, both in our immediate family and in the lives of our loved ones. Resolutions have been slow. Some have been happy, others were totally not what we wanted, and for some we wait still.

So I have been thinking (a lot) about this "in between" stuff and what my response to it should be and how I can best honor God in it. 

I don't want to miss the "in between"! 

So much of life IS the in between. If I spend the days of my life waiting for everything to be perfect (or my concept of perfect), I will have missed most of my opportunities. Life will pass me by and I will not have used the moments. 

Truly, all the days of our lives are "in between" days, as we pass our time here as sojourners, preparing for eternity.

If I just "get through it," then I don't find what is good, what is doable in the here and now. 

During the "in between" days, I must resolve to forsake my false sense of entitlement, the idea that I deserve better, the idea that I shouldn't have trouble and heartache and pain. 

During the "in between" days, I must make adaptations. I must accept the reality and go with it. I must accept a change in my plans and expectations and say that it is good. 

During the "in between" days, I must not wait for the home I want, for the kids to be older, for the job I want, for retirement, for {fill-in-the-blank} in order to live and do and be. 

I must live now. 

I will choose to put a flower on the sick tray and buy new sheets for the sick bed and offer comfort and cheer to the one who is ill. 

I will invite guests before the house is finished, when life isn't perfect. 

I will paint the walls and hang some pictures and fluff my non-dream house, the house where I'm living now. I will make beauty.

I will work around the messes, forgive, do my best, take time. I will offer help. I will encourage. 

I will make the most of opportunities.

(For when will it all be perfect? When will everything be resolved?) 

Just to be clear, I am not talking about looking on the bright side. I am not talking about being a Pollyana. I am talking about something much deeper than that. 

I am talking about gratitude. Accepting and being grateful for all of His gifts, even those that come differently than I would expect. 

I am talking about faith. Faith that says that God is good, that He will do what He says, that everything (everything!) is working for the good of those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

So though we live with quiet longing for better days, we live now. 

Live now. (By His grace.)

These days will never come again.

Make the now beautiful. 

It is His gift. 

Elisabeth Elliot said it well: 

"The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived --not always looked forward to as though the 'real' living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow."