The Girl Who Waited
Leah wanted everything quickly. Quick answers, quick success, quick healing, quick change. Whenever she prayed, she expected God to move immediately. If nothing changed, she became restless.
One season of her life became especially difficult. A family problem dragged on month after month. She prayed daily, but heaven seemed silent. One evening she complained to her catechism teacher, "I think God is not listening."
The teacher gave her a seed and said, "Plant it. Water it. Then come back tomorrow asking why it is not a tree."
Leah laughed. "That is silly."
"Exactly," the teacher replied. "You understand growth in plants better than growth in grace."
Weeks later, when the tiny sprout pushed through the soil, Leah looked at it differently. The ground had seemed empty, but life had been forming where she could not see it.
Reflection
She began to pray with more trust and less demand. Her problem did not vanish overnight. But she changed. She became calmer, kinder and stronger. At the end she realized that while she had been waiting for God to change her situation, God had been changing her.