The Waiting Game

3.5 hours. That was the total number of hours I spent staring at nothing, simply waiting for the three different counters at the UK Visa Application Centre (UKVACS) to decide if I submitted all the requirements needed and if there were any other gaps I needed to fill. I couldn't even fiddle with my cellphone since every person who comes in has to surrender their handbag and extra stuff to the guard at the entrance.

By the second hour, I could feel a pounding headache coming...probably because I came in with an empty stomach. I stupidly assumed that the whole submission business (since it was just submitting papers) would take at most an hour and a half, so I opted to skip breakfast and have a good brunch when I get out of the UKVACS office. At 1:30 in the afternoon, I came out with my head full of pounding hammers and a stomach empty of anything except probably for acid hissing for something to burn.

Whether I came in well-armed for the waiting game or not, I suspect I would still be ticked off when I was done.

You see, like most (all?) people, waiting is not exactly my favorite hobby. I have done my share of waiting…whether it is for a delayed flight to take off, for a friend to show up for an appointment, for results from whatever tests, for decisions to be made by higher-ups, for problems to be resolved, for prayers to be answered…ad naseum.

There are certain things/situations when I find waiting senseless—and other times when I find waiting worth it. Whatever the case, one thing is for certain: the reason we have to play the waiting game is because much of life is beyond our control.

I once stumbled on a verse in the Bible that says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick." (Proverbs 13:12). How true! How true!

The wait is especially unbearable if it is something that you have pinned your hopes on. And the letdown that sometimes come after a long wait (with baited breath) can be shattering.

Another time, I saw a signboard at the front of a cinema-turned-church building that announced the pastor’s message for that Sunday and it said, “Delayed by Design.” That time I saw the sign, I was actually waiting for something and somehow the sign was comforting. It tells me that though I was not in control, Somebody far wiser, way more powerful was. He knows what is best and He knows when is best.

I realize how true this is since I found out that because I couldn’t submit my applications earlier (before May), I found out that the agency (UKVACS) that handles the visa submission has waived its processing fee starting May. Then after submission, I went to check my visa status on line through a reference number, and found out that by end of May, the visa processing will change again and become more complicated. I submitted my application at just the right time!

As I wait for the results of my visa application. I keep the above truth in my heart: God, who knows best, delays by design.

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My dear Wordpress friends, I don't seem to be able to get my comments uploaded in your blogs!! Mon suggests to ask you to de-spam my comments (if that's the problem.) Thanks, Mon for the tip!!