Oh Wait!

Oh Wait!

There are few things in life that cause excitement and anxiety like waiting does. Like I do every April, I put out my “Welcome” mat today. They say the scout birds will soon arrive in Tennessee. I am not sure who “they” are but this according to the gospel of The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and so I got in my amen pew and did as “they” said and I put my hummingbird feeders out. Go Vols!

“They” say that early birds will arrive in Tennessee in late March, and I am ashamed I didn’t get their feeders out sooner but perhaps the little hummers found someone much better prepared and more welcoming than me to fill their bellies. And for all our sakes, let’s hope that to be the case because it’s a long migration journey they’re on and they need nourishment. I can hardly carry the thought of them perched on the shepherd’s hook, hungry and waiting on me.

Have you ever seen a hummingbird up close? Unless you have had the misfortune of having one get caught in your garage or screened porch then the answer is likely NO. But if you have then perhaps we share the admiration of how beautiful their feathers are. Mind you, I have had a lot of free time on my hands this winter (otherwise known as the dark ages) and have read quite a bit on hummingbirds, specifically their feathers. And did you know they are called acrobatic flyers because they can fly frontwards, backwards and upside down? God’s creation never stops amazing me.

Back to the waiting idea, though.

At the same time, I am waiting on my little feathered friends to show up, I am waiting on a dear friend to come to my home tonight. We haven’t seen each other in several months and I can hardly wait to catch up with her. I keep looking down at my watch to see what minutes have passed and count the hours until she arrives. I am trying to keep busy during the wait time so that I don’t dwell on the agonizing passage of it. Time seems to stand still when we are looking forward to something. On the reverse, time flies.

If you are a student of manufacturing principles then you understand that the longest component of the lead time to produce a product is called wait, or queue. Practitioners work tirelessly to reduce the wait time in order to be able to produce more product. Their focus is on the wait time…that’s where they see the opportunities. And just maybe this is where we might also find opportunities.

So much of life happens between the bookends of waiting on something and receiving it. Could be an answer. Could be a thing. Could be a person. No matter what we wait on, that whole space in the middle of waiting and receiving consists of living; be it quiet anticipation or loud anxiety. And no matter what you’re waiting on, dear readers, be of good courage and grow with the process because soon the wait will be over.

Oh Wait! There’s a bird at my feeder. I’ve been waiting on him.

#tennessee #tennesseeinstituteofagriculture #vols #hummingbirds #waiting #manufacturingleadtime #queue #growing #friendship #birdwatcher