Waiting

Last year our orange tree didn’t bloom.
Not one blossom.

Someone told me, almost off-handedly,
“Some trees rest. They take a season to gather themselves.”

I hoped that was true but I also worried.

Yet this year, it gave us four baskets full!

I think about that often now. Aren’t we sometimes like my orange tree. There are years where we wonder where the fruit is. Years when nothing seems to grow. When we feel tired. More often than not, it feels like waiting. Waiting for insight. Waiting for answers to prayers.

And sometimes doubt creeps in.
Have we failed.
Have we given up.
Will we ever get there.

Maybe it’s something else.

Maybe nothing is wrong.
Maybe we’re gathering strength.
Maybe the work is happening where no one can see it.

Underground.
Out of sight.
Getting ready.