The Wait

How do we stand in the midst of a storm?  How do we live with grief? How can we recover from the loss of all hope? What does it look like to have peace in unpredictable circumstances?

In the depth of each of those questions, there is the potential for any person to feel helpless.  Situations that challenge our inner-person put our true character on the line.  To even have character, we have to experience character-building situations!  No person can will themselves to have strong and moral character that's filled with integrity.  But, how? How do we remember that character is formed during the storm?  I don't really know if we can.  Sometimes all we can do is stand in the midst of the storm and wait.  I am just a human but I believe that in the wait is where the strength, character, and integrity is formed.  The wait is the place that is the most painful, most uncomfortable, most foreign, most lonely, most disrespected, most misunderstood, most betrayed,  most _____________ (you fill in your storm).

In those stormy moments, influences all around can either help or hinder the wait.  Some situation happen so unpredictably.  Those are the ones that force us to choose.  They require us to choose.  Sometimes when there is loss and grief, there is no light in the storm, in the wait.  Those are the most humility-producing moments because we are not in the control of the situations that affects us.  In those moments, we have to choose to relinquish the desire to know the outcome of the storm.  That is a foreign concept for most people....we want to know.  Sometimes we don't know why OR what we want to know.  But, we want.  We want in the wait.  We want anything other than the wait because it's not very comfortable.  The wait is the hardest place.

I recently received an email that said something similar to this:

"I can't believe the war there! That fighting is so insane! I hope you're coming home soon. I can't believe you haven't been evacuated yet."

 

That email caused me to think in a way that I had not entertained before.  I hadn't really thought of that....should I want to leave?  What would be my motivation in desiring to leave?  Is it to escape the storm?  Can I really escape a storm if I am standing in the midst of it?   Sure, I can run for cover but the storm will still rage on.  I know this will sound a little crazy, but I have no reason to leave.  I don't claim to be some hero or martyr in my choice to stay in Israel.  I choose to stay because I know I'm supposed to.  Just like when the offer came for me to come, I prayed about it and knew I was supposed to come.  And, it was just that simple for me.  It's still just that simple for me.  I have peace to be in the storm.  Each day, I have to stand in the wait. Even when I'm running to the bomb shelter and hearing deeply-grieving tragedies from the evil and ugliness of war, I choose to stand.  Today is the only day I (WE) have anyway.  I "own" nothing of tomorrow until tomorrow comes.  My heart is comforted in the simple peace that this war in Israel, this storm, is too big for me to fathom. I surrender to knowing the outcome. So, I stand in the wait.  As stated in previous posts, I see the hand of God protecting this land.  I know He is on my side and He's on Israel's side.

 

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm. So, that you may be able to take a stand whenever evil comes. And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand. Ephesians 6:10-11, 13

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings as eagles. Isaiah 40:31

 

Even as I am typing, a close siren breaks the silence of the night.  It is 10:09pm here and we all enter the bomb shelter in our sleeping clothes. Some were sleeping and shocked awake by the siren's cry.  We quietly sit in the shelter and listen for the "booms".  I count three.  We wait.  We exit.  I am filled with adrenaline, but I still stand.  My hope is in the Lord. He always renews my strength for every moment.

Israelis are calling it a "double-miracle." On July 24th,  an IDF soldier was shot in Gaza, felt the impact, but found no bullet wound. Upon further inspection, one of the grenades he was carrying on his chest had absorbed the bullet.  Even more incredibly, the grenade failed to explode for reasons we cannot comprehend.  This is a true miracle.

As I stand, life goes on.  I am thankful for the support from friends, family, and even strangers.  Moments come of joy, happiness, beauty, and laughter. They shed a ray of light, even in the darkest of storms.  Those moments bring hope.  Thanks to all for the love, prayers, friendships, and support.

I am surrounded by great and new friends here in Israel.  I love the last picture in this above group of pics.  Yes, we are in the bomb shelter.  But, look....everyone is smiling!

 Israel remains my #1 favorite. Its beauty is really incomparable to any other place I've been. The tree with the red and green fruit on it is a wild fig tree.  They are edible and delicious.

Above: Apollonia National Park.  In the distance you can see the city of Herzliya.

Above: Gan HaShlosha National Park, literally translated: "Park of the Three. It has naturally warm water where visitors can swim all year. The spring water maintains a constant, year-round temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (about 82 degrees Fahrenheit).  Gan HaShlosha National Park is in the northern part of Israel.  While we were there, we missed four sirens in our city. I was a great day of fun, swimming, and some impressive sunburns.

 Above: The Sea of Galilee.

 That time when we had a balcony picnic during a wind storm....

I have learned so much from these four amazing student's! (Also, that's not real grass)