Anita and I decided that KFC seemed like a good idea. We had both been waiting for Septa for what seemed like forever. She needed the 23 to come so she could get down Germantown Avenue to her kids. I was waiting for the H. Or the XH. Or the 53. Any of them work fine but all that I got in a full half hour of waiting were six 56’s zooming through the intersection at Broad and Erie. This did not help me get home to prepare dinner.
Preparing dinner is important on Thursdays because Thursdays are special. Anita and her two joyful sons join me and my family for dinner. She and I lead a Circle of Hope cell group together and it’s great to have the chance to live life together, too. This past week, though, I had no food to share and it was already closing in on 7:00.
So KFC it was. They said it would be a sec and asked us to pull up to wait for the food. We pulled up. We waited. And waited. Waiting was not fun and the 4 minutes and 23 seconds that it took seemed interminable.
At home the children were ready to dive in but we stalled them long enough to bless the food with some candle-lighting and an advent song that we usually sing in the weeks before Christmas. The candle helps to remind us that waiting is a sacred thing and that God has come to be with us. As the flame flickered next to the chicken bucket I realized the same things (God is with us; waiting is sacred) apply not just to Christmas but also to everyday, mundane frustrations of modern life. The next time I find myself waiting for H or the XH or the 53 or the blessed bucket of chicken, I want to hold on to that: Jesus is with me. Waiting is holy. God waits with me for good (even good from KFC!) to be fulfilled.
-Aubrey White, writing