On the heels of writing yesterday’s post about waiting, I received an email. It was from our attorney, regarding a response from the IRS on our 501(c)3.

For those of you who don’t know (and those who do, who may have been wondering), we moved out to the country almost exactly two years ago to start a therapeutic riding non-profit. We built our facility, and applied for federal approval 17 months ago.

SEVENTEEN MONTHS.

We were expecting something long before now, having promoted openings that had to be cancelled, and stop further improvements because we couldn’t, in good conscience, raise money, due to lack of ability to guarantee tax benefit. So, we’ve just been silent about it since last summer, waiting.

When I saw that email and its subject line, my heart stopped. Could this really, finally, be it??

No. It was a request for more information. Three pages more, in fact, each filled will question after question to be answered, and submitted with supporting documentation. And we’d better have it in their hands in 2 weeks, or they’ll assume we want to stop the process.

Really?

That post yesterday was about an entirely different thing. We finally had to let this IRS thing go months ago, because there was absolutely nothing more we could do about it. And our current thing? That’s not on our time table either. When it’s all said and done, nothing really is.

But in the midst of all this waiting and lack of control, in the middle of getting my hopes up, only to have them postponed again, I heard my daughter’s excitement, yesterday, about breeding her mare. If it all works out, we’ll have a little foal around here in about 11 months. I also saw tiny flowers blooming as Kevin cut away some dead brush, and a robin land out under the feeder, the proverbial sign of spring.

These were all reminders to me that, even when we’re waiting (or even when we think the waiting’s come to an end, but realize the answer is just more waiting) life is still happening around us. Even as our own world seems to be stopped, the bigger world is still spinning, beckoning us to take a look and see the not-so-hidden beauty that we often miss when we’re focused on what’s beyond our current grasp.

The thing we forget sometimes is that God holds both worlds in His hands. If He’s still working His miracles of life and beauty in the bigger world, He’s still doing the same in ours, even as He’s holding it still for a time. It’s just our job to let go, knowing it’s in Capable Hands, and look around at the beautiful life – the promise of His answer – all around us.

Then? Since our hands are free? We can raise them straight up in a show of thanks and praise.

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8:26-28 MSG

“God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
    to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
    quietly hope for help from God.” Lamentations 3:25-26 MSG

“I thank you always
    that you went into action.
And I’ll stay right here,
    your good name my hope,
    in company with your faithful friends.” Psalm 52:9 MSG