Our summer teaching series at NWLife is called The Power of Pause.

It’s all about looking for and finding the value in waiting.

I asked our team to write about their experiences in waiting and anticipating in order to share them with you.

Today’s post is from Leslie Wheeler.

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You know those moments in life, the big ones, when you are nervous and excited at the same time? That’s me right now.

I am in the last few days of waiting to deliver my second child. I’ve done it before so I know the drill, but it’s still nerve wracking. I know that this is going to be a painful process; labor is not #1 on my list of fun experiences in life. It’s hard work, it takes hours, its physically and emotionally draining, but when it’s over, you are literally holding one of the greatest blessings in life.

In that moment, the painful memories quickly fade and you are in love! Don’t get me wrong, just a short while later you are reminded of the pain because that lingers for a few weeks and then you’re sleep deprived and brain dead for the next few months, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was all worth it.

Life is like this on an ongoing basis. There seems to always be a painful process, some hard labor awaiting us.

Remember all those years of school? They make us go through 12 grades of pure torture to get this beloved thing called a diploma. Oh the bliss of that diploma, after all your hard work, only to realize… it’s not over.

Once summer comes to an end you will be right back in the classroom working on your college education. Now, college graduation, that’s big time. The reward is a degree; you’ve really made something of yourself, until you realize you must get a job.

Eventually you will find a job, not just a job, but a career in the field that you have put years into studying. When you start taking home a paycheck doing what you have been dreaming of since childhood, all those hard years of laboring in school quickly fade and you are basking in your reward.

Our life with God is like this, there are things that he asks us to do that require laboring. We are required to put in the time and effort needed to see the benefits. Sometimes we endure pain and hardship that we don’t understand, but in the end we are standing there holding our reward. The reward of a closer walk with him, a stronger marriage, children entrusted to our care, or maybe just a new outlook on life.

There in the labor is our “pause” the time between what we are working for and the reward. It can take a long time, it might be painful, and the load may be heavier than we thought we would have to bear, but after the effort comes that moment when all the pain fades and you are left holding the blessing.

I want to look forward with hope to those times of pause, the hours or sometimes years of labor, not because I’m going to enjoy the pain, but because I know the end result will take my breath away.

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Thanks for sharing Leslie.

We can’t to meet Kyle Jr. very soon!

Check back tomorrow for a post from worship pastor, Kyle Wheeler.