I can’t believe today marks the last day of August. Time flew by quickly this month. But I also spent much of August waiting.
Several family members had Covid and that was stressful. Our older son couldn’t get a confirmed dormitory room at university – so a lot of patient waiting and prayer was necessary. Summer days started getting shorter, a sign that the season was passing.
I observed my boys make preparations for their next stage of independence. As we ate dinner each evening (sometimes carrying the conversation till 9 pm!), I felt the turning of a new chapter soon with both acceptance and apprehension.
The global pandemic of 2020 did not upend my life so much as it accelerated the new chapter I wanted to embark on. Thank goodness for it – I stopped finding excuses and instead committed myself to learn new digital skills.
As the sound of cicadas intensified in mid summer, I found myself slowing down my learning curve. There was just so much I wanted to do without feeling burnt out or bored by it.
I felt both the necessity and importance of waiting once more. Waiting is something I do not do comfortably in ordinary time, but as life “forces” me to wait, I have learned to welcome waiting as a friend.
While I figure I could not hurry anything or anyone up any faster, I decided to embark on a journey to read God’s Word in various translations.
VERDICT?
Oh. What. Fun.
Enjoy some of the visuals here. Note how I made visuals of the same verse but I used different bible translations. (I selected the different translations using Bible Gateway.) If you like these visuals and want to pin them, you can visit our Pinterest page.
The exercise, which initially felt like an imprudent use of my working time, provided great peace and comfort to my soul. Several times as I studied God’s Word, contemplated and prayed it, I’d find myself in tears. A true moment of receiving wellness. A moment with God, where I felt all of Eternal Hope speaking to me and comforting me.
Psalm 90
How do you wait?
What do you do when you wait?
Do you fret? Do you get angry? What about becoming depressed?
I am sure if you have lived long enough, you would recognize that no amount of frustration, longing, anxiety or sadness would make things resolve any quicker.
So in the midst of my waiting, I create things and I serve. I create products and I share them at my online shops. I make meals and I let God’s musicians tend to my soul.
What do you do in the waiting of your life?
Ora et labora
Generally associated with St. Benedict (a monastic monk in the 5th century), this Latin phrase means “pray and work”.
The idea being as we work and go about our business throughout the day, we are in prayer.
How many of us live like that?
Lord, teach me to pray and work. As I work through my challenges, as I wait for clarity, as I wait for mercy in a new morning, as I await a new dance of joy, help me pray and work.
Check out our Instagram account by clicking here for the full collection of my work on Psalm 90.
Beautiful, Angela.
I have been reading through some of the Psalms this summer because of your podcast. I have enjoyed this fresh approach of not just reading and meditating on a portion of scripture, but also using it as a springboard for my prayers. It has been very helpful to me to have you go through the steps on your episodes and actually model how to carefully listen to what God is saying, ponder it, and then talk to Him about what His word has “woken up” in me. I appreciate all the hours of study and recording that is involved in making every episode.
I’m glad to hear it, Terry. Thanks for sharing about how you are extending this into your own practice/prayer time with God. You are an encouragement! ~ Ron