the toenail An Important Part Of The Whole

Our 9-year-old little boy with a 106.2 fever.
Coughing.
Glassed over eyes.
Pink cheeks and ears.

It was our third visit to see Dr. Mohr.
An unscheduled visit, of course.  We could never plan for these things.
For more than two weeks, the strep virus had danced it’s way in and through our entire household.
Despite antibiotics and cough syrups and  a firm Motrin/Tylenol routine, our youngest son was still struggling.

We joined several  people in the waiting room, all patients waiting for their turn.
There was an older couple waiting, along with a man with a walker and a woman who kept checking her watch and sending text messages.
As the nurse opened the door to call for a patient to enter the examination area, the stale air in the waiting area seemed to be energized quickly with the anticipation of every person waiting…then as the door closed, the air lost all vitality and returned to it’s stale, heavy atmosphere.  The wait.  The atmosphere of waiting.

After the 3rd person was called back, our son exclaimed, “That’s not fair!  We’ve been waiting a long time!”.  I could only smile at him and put my arms around him, reminding him that all the other patients probably had appointments, but that we were “walk ins”.  I reminded him that we would soon be in to see the doctor.

A 4th person was called back.

A 5th.

It was at that moment that I realized there was a very teachable moment before us.

“Lane, do you know what hope feels like?”

Lane was now slumping even lower in his chair, shrugging his shoulders in an “I don’t know” motion.

“You know when you hear that door open, you hear the hinges squeaking, and you are waiting to hear the name the nurse is going to call?

Lane:  “Yeah.”

“Well, don’t you HOPE that she is going to call your name?  Aren’t you watching, along with everyone else in the waiting room, to see if you’re going to be next?  That’s what hope feels like!  For a minute, you are excited and expecting to hear your name.  Now, do you know what faith is?”

Lane:  “Uh-huh.  It’s believing.”

“That’s right!  When we have faith in something, we believe completely in it.  I have faith that your name is going to be called, don’t you?”

Lane:  “Yeah, I guess so.”

“When you’re hoping your name is going to be called, and then it’s not, it’s kind of a let down.  But you have faith and know that your name IS going to be called, you just don’t know when.  Having faith makes it easier to wait for your name to be called.”

Lane just snuggled up a little closer to me as we continued to wait for his name to be called.  I was so thankful for the understanding of Hope and Faith I was being shown and praised our Savior for allowing me to talk about these things with Lane while we waited.  And as He always does, I was showered with the peace of knowing that of Hope and Faith and Love, the greatest of these is Love.  It is the Love of our Father that allows for patience in gaining an understanding of Hope and Faith to help us along in our journey.

I don’t mind waiting in the doctor’s office.  I’ve heard of a lot of people lately complaining about wait times.  There are so many sick people and needs that we are not privileged to know about others.  When we sit in a  room full of patients waiting to be seen, sometimes it can get frustrating.  It’s easy to point our fingers at others and assign blame for our “waste of time” while we wait for appointments that seem to be over scheduled, or fail to fall within a certain time limit.  Patience, Hope, Faith and Love.  When we keep these things at the top of our daily “to do list”, it will certainly help offset the negativities that can creep in and steal our peace, our joy.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Update:  Today was our 4th visit to see Dr. Mohr.  Again, unscheduled.  Today’s wait, however, was much easier on Lane.  He didn’t say it, but I bet he was thinking about Hope and Faith every time the door opened.  Thank you, Lord, for those seeds you give us and for the fertile soil in which they are nurtured.