Walking and Waiting in the Way of Wisdom

Walking and Waiting in the Way of Wisdom

Posted on by Michele Morin

The sun shone warm on my back, and my youngest granddaughter’s eyes were nearly closed as I gently pushed the swing. Playground mayhem surrounded us, but we were wrapped in the quiet of a sunny summer afternoon.

The grandmotherly privilege of one-on-one time with a toddler requires an intense commitment to being present in the moment. Standing beside the baby swing with a contented little girl requires essentially nothing from me.

I don’t have to be funny or interesting.
I don’t have to know MLB batting averages or Great Books.
I don’t have to be proficient with Microsoft Word.

I just have to push the swing.
I just have to wait quietly and be still.

It’s funny how the tests we fail the first time often come back around for another attempt later in life. I’d love to report that in the space between my youngest son (now 23) and my oldest grandson (now 10), I have become a model of patient endurance and that I now find great delight in the quiet rhythms of caregiving.

Standing at a lakeside playground, I can almost hear the voice of God saying, “Welcome to Round 2, Michele! Your body is older this time around. You’re learning the effects of a debilitating neurological disease, but I still have work for you to do. Will you let me teach you the wisdom of waiting?”

There’s a wisdom in waiting that has always lived just beyond my grasp. When I’m in motion, multi-tasking, motoring through my day, I feel strong, buoyant, and in control.

Looking through the lens of godly wisdom, I find a different way to be strong, a rising up on borrowed wings, and a stamina that defies the weariness that comes with waiting:

They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”
(Isaiah 40:31)

Thank you, Lord, for the way you circle back around with second chances, for the miracle of your gracious willingness to work with the clay pot that is me.

Help me to learn that the call to wisdom is often a call to wait. Teach me the perseverance that comes with the long view of commitment, with the rising up and the running toward wisdom.

 You can see all my Get Wisdom posts for 2025 here!

Looking through the lens of godly wisdom, I find a different way to be strong, a rising up on borrowed wings, and a stamina that defies the weariness that comes with waiting.

Holding You in the Light,

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four married sons and a growing fleet of adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

26 thoughts on “Walking and Waiting in the Way of Wisdom”

  2. MIichele

    Love this for today.

    As a grandparent myself it is a special privilege to be able to be present in these little ones lives

    and to do it all over again !

    Like

  5. I feel wistful as I read this thinking to when our six grandchildren were young like yours. Ours range now from 20 to 31. That time seemed to fly by so fast and perhaps more so since they live in different states that required traveling hundreds of miles to be sure they still remembered us. Now I watch their lives develop and the careers they are pursuing begin to move them forward in adulthood. No more pushing swings or cuddling on the couch with a favorite story. Now it is following on Instagram, texting, and FaceTime to catch up. Age teaches us wisdom and the truth that time goes by more quickly than we often fail to realize.

    Like

  6. I so loved this post, Michele. We just came home from a week long family vacation. One of the memories my husband and I will hold dear is our nightly walk with our 16MO grandson. It was slower than a snail’s pace, so did not count as exercise. But it was an exercise none the less as we patiently waited for him to catch up after squatting to look at various things along the way. It is amazing how we come to value both time and patience. It is a gift indeed.

    And I am so sorry for your health issues. May our God slow down the progression and give you many more days of better health!

    Like

  7. I can picture this sweet moment, Michele. Such a privilege to be parents and grandparents and to love on everyone in each season.

    Like

  8. We’ll have one-on-one time with granddaughter #3 (age 8) tomorrow. Your timely post has reminded me to soak up her precious face, the stories she tells, our interactions as we work together on her summer packet for school. (NOT one of her favorite activities!) May I indeed exercise patience and wisdom; may we make a sweet memory or two in spite of the unpleasant task at hand!

    Like

  10. It’s such a privilege to enjoy these little moments with our grandchildren, having better learned the lessons of patience and gentleness. And I love that you pointed out the stamina that God teaches us and gives us as we wait on him. Beautiful lessons.

    Like

  12. Michele, I think I may have told you this before, but I am l really enjoying your “wisdom” posts this year. I’ve written a grand total of one post about my word of the year so far, but your regular words about yours have been an encouragement and a blessing to me.

    Like

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