I was waiting in line. A few lines over was a woman waiting for more than just her groceries. I judged her to be somewhere near to completing her eighth month of pregnancy. Her countenance, with its shine and rose, suggested this may be the first.

I spent some of my waiting time wondering what it must be like to be pregnant. What it must be like to have a living, little being just growing up inside your very own body. One thing for certain...you can’t be in any hurry. It takes nine months of waiting and if you rush it there is bound to be trouble. Nine months to spend wondering who this person is. I suspect you grow pretty attached to whoever it is living behind your belly button. Waiting allows for the relationship to deepen, to give time to the ever-growing reality that someone very real is residing in there.

We all seem to be in such a hurry to get wherever it is we think we need to get to that we miss out on the journey itself.

I remember one afternoon in Norway, a few years back. We were heading up to the city of Trondheim to do some sightseeing and as was my customary custom, I was totally focused on seeing the sights in Trondheim as if there not a single sight along the way.

If you have ever been to Norway you know that there is hardly a more beautiful place in all of creation. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t have been able to verify that because, you see, I was headed, hell bent, for Trondheim. Breath-taking fjords, unimaginable waterfalls, lovely people...all rushing past in a blur as I raced toward our destination. Hands gripped to the wheel. Eyes focused dead ahead. I was committed to the task.

Suddenly God spoke to me.

Right there in the middle of Norwegian Highway #6. God’s voice was loud and clear and sounded amazingly like my wife’s. God suggested that if I didn’t slow down and pull off the road occasionally, I was going to find myself in Trondheim very much alone.

It seemed a reasonable argument and so the rest of the day was spent in utter pleasure enjoying a leisurely sojourn in the countryside.

It won’t surprise you that when we finally did get to Trondheim, it was still there.