I'm a big fan of Dr Who's explanation of time, its a sort of timey wimey non-linear progression, it's not always a straight line! Well I'm not exactly sure that true but I am sure that timing and especially God's timing can be hard for us to understand.

 Waiting is not something I am good at, and its something that isn't high on Ben's list of achievements either, mind you that isn't helped by Ben's somewhat fragile and fluid concept of time where seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, even years are used interchangeably in a single sentence!

As children we can be quite demanding, we want it and we want it NOW! I fear that as an adult Christian, dare I say mature? my childish expectations  can (and do) rise to the surface, I pray, I tell God what I need, I ask Him to meet my need, and I expect my needs and desires to be met NOW! Sometimes, our needs are met and answered almost instantaneously and that is wonderful and exciting but more often than not there is a delay, a period of waiting.

Thirty four years ago I was working in Trafford as a teacher of children with Special Educational Needs. I attended a wonderful vibrant Church, I had a lovely flat, I was never out of work, but...I couldn't get a permanent job. For five years I moved from one temporary position to another, I had interviews for several jobs (even jobs I was actually doing at the time) but  never got the permanent position. My Church would pray fervently for me on the Sunday before any interview, the Elders would meet and pray for me during the week but inevitable I would have to make the call to say I hadn't got the job. many tears were shed, and not just mine.

But... on Thursday November 29th  1990 I received a phone call at the school I was working in at the time, it was a phone call that changed my life (and my parent's lives) forever, I heard a distant voice telling me that I had been approved to adopt a four month old baby boy called Harry; I was to travel to Bath on Saturday December 1st  to meet my new son and prepare to bring him home on Tuesday December 4th!

I was able to resign and leave my job on Friday November 30th because I wasn't in a permanent contract! I did indeed travel to Bath on December 1st (with my parents) and I met Ben. All the years of waiting, hoping, struggling with disappointment, frustration (even anger) suddenly made sense, God had known long before I did that I needed to be available to be a Mum to the little boy He had chosen for me.

I still struggle with waiting on God, I still get impatient and want things now but, I just have to look at ben and I am reminded that God's timing is perfect!