Tonight as I try to contemplate our exchange, I am mentally weary from the weight of it all. If you were to ask me to describe the greatest gift or benefit she received from our discussion, I would reply 'my quiet spirit.' I gave her my presence - my attention.
During our time together I whispered to myself - "wait with her and listen" "be with her."
This does not come naturally for me. I continually fought the urge to suggest or assign a task to help her 'fix' everything.
It is hard to trust the slow work of God and to recognize my own discomfort at my powerlessness in situations where I am called to wait -patiently.
"...waiting can be the most intense and poignant of all human experiences -- the experience which above all others strips us of affection and self-deception, and reveals to us the reality of our needs, our values, and ourselves."
-Margaret Guenther
