Waiting.
I’ve been struggling with waiting lately, so today I looked up the definition: To allow time to go by, especially while staying in one place without doing very much, until someone comes, until something that you are expecting happens or until you can do something (The Cambridge English Dictionary).
Waiting is something we’re very familiar with as parents of children (and adult children) with disabilities:
We wait for a diagnosis.
We wait to find the best doctors and therapists.
We wait in waiting rooms to see those doctors and therapists.
We wait for healing. We wait for first words; first steps; first dry night; first day—or hour!—without a meltdown; first motorized wheelchair or accessible van; first church that not only accepts but celebrates our child. The list goes on and on.
Waiting, or Stuck?
Waiting sometimes feels very much like being stuck, doesn’t it? This part of the definition speaks to that stuck feeling: staying in one place without doing very much, until someone comes, until something that you are expecting happens or until you can do something.
Until someone comes. Until something happens. Until you can do something.
My husband and I have been in major waiting mode for the past three months. Our adult son, Joel, who has autism, normally loves going to church. I blogged about that just last month in Church for Every Child: Your Child is Welcome Here. But it’s been three months now since Joel has been able to attend church. The first month it was because of an extended manic swing. The last two months it’s been because our church moved to a new building. Transitions have never been easy for Joel, but this one has been crazy-hard. Joel absolutely refuses to enter the new building for Sunday service.
We’ve worked at easing the transition. We set up a couple of meetings, mid-week, for Joel to walk through the building with our pastor, whom Joel loves dearly. We set up a daily chore schedule for Joel in the new building. He seems to enjoy being there during the week, but on Sunday mornings? He refuses to enter, or when he does enter, refuses to stay.
Source: Special Needs Parenting- Key Ministry
