The Enchanted Gift

Wait. Lately, it seems as if Waiting really is The one chance I never miss.

I wait with my heart on the wheel For the light to turn green And for my foot to push And for the adrenaline to rush

I wait to hear back from That job offer I hope will come And to embrace the freedom Which only reaches the employed some

For me, school is a little too far So I find myself sitting in my car On my commute that is a little too long Even for the playlists to which I sing along

I look at the lanes beside me The others all speed by happily Am I the only one with a red light Am I the only one whose seatbelt is too tight

I always feel like the one who is behind The one who always has to grind The one who can never make up her mind The one with the person she can’t find

30.7 miles to go

61.4 miles for home

And on the waiting goes

But then my lifted eyes get A glimpse of that mirror I often forget To view the lengths I have passed And all the memories that last

And I begin to ponder

Why I always forget the wonder… Why does it feel like I am always waiting for the horizon And losing sight of the journey that I am on

Isn’t every stop sign

Another chance to remind My hopeful heart of what is above And the glories yet to come

Isn’t every yellow light

Another chance to stop before I turn right And along the way, a chance to learn Just how far my wheels can turn

What if I were to cherish

The pauses that never seem to perish And begin to wonder, How much can I discover?

Every detour I take Will only my path remake

But my destination will not change And home will come in haste anyway

So, I wait

On this journey to my eternal fate

And I decide to stop trying to be swift

‘Cause the waiting is the most enchanted gift

Carissa is a fourth-year Molecular and Cellular Biology major who loves writing about the many ways that God is working in her life. As a commuting student, she has recently been considering how gratefulness can allow her to enjoy the journey as much as she longs for the destination, both in driving and in life.