A Reflection on Waiting

I was asked by a dear friend to give a reflection on "waiting" before Mass started on Saturday evening.  Advent is the season of waiting...awaiting the birth of Christ - or the celebration of that birth.  Awaiting His second coming - whenever that may be.  We spend a lot of time waiting in our lives.  I wrote this without even thinking about the fact that I am again waiting - waiting for the follow up in February.  In the meantime, I am struggling with being very hyperthyroid - heart racing and fatigue being the worst part.  Otherwise, I've healed well and now I wait...yet again.

Here's the reflection:
The season of Advent is a season of waiting. Advent gives us a chance to reflect on how we wait for God and how God waits for us. My name is Daria Jerauld and I have a story about waiting to share with you.

I've done a lot of waiting in my life and we all know the expression “The Waiting is the Hardest Part.” In 1996 my husband Bob and I were waiting patiently for the adoption of two children fro

m Russia. We were one and a half years into the process – patiently waiting on God to match us up with our future children – when I was diagnosed in March of that same year with Thyroid cancer. We were devastated. The tables were turned and now God was waiting on me – waiting for me to cope with the diagnosis, waiting on me to heal and waiting on me to stop being upset with God. "Hey God – why did you do this to me?"

I went through surgery, radiation and the healing process began. I got home from radiation treatment greeted by a phone call that we’d been matched up with our children!! A beautiful five year old boy and a precious four year old girl. Life was back on track – Thank you God!  And we waited...waited for that phone call to say “pack your bags, it’s time to travel to Russia to pick up the kids.” Then in early August while patiently waiting, I learned that the sneaky thyroid cancer was back. I needed more surgery. This was NOT part of the plan. I waited on God for a sign…should a woman with cancer be adopting children? Would they come here only to lose a mom for the second time in their lives? I waited on God for an answer and He waited on me to find peace in this crazy situation.

I went to Mass the day before my surgery – it was August 15th the feast of the Assumption. Fr. Norm White said Mass at St. Anthony’s in Dubuque. After Mass I asked him for the blessing of St. Blaise – the patron saint of issues of the throat. He graciously offered the blessing and then said “Why are you asking for the blessing of St. Blaise in August – normally we do that blessing in February?” I gestured to the scar on my neck – “Thyroid Cancer.” He ripped off his Roman collar and said “Me too, 1962.” That was the sign I had waited for – a message from God that I would live and be able to raise my children. I went through surgery and waited, as I healed, for that phone call that it was time to pack our bags. About a week after surgery the phone did ring – but it was a fellow parishioner calling to say that Fr. Norm had died. I was so sad. I said my prayers for him and it occurred to me that he’s now a Saint. I turned my eyes towards Heaven – well actually my kitchen ceiling – and said “Hey, St. Norm. Get to work up there. I need to get a phone call so we can fly to Russia to get the kids.” Literally that same morning our phone rang. The waiting was over – pack your bags it’s time to fly. Exactly one month to the day of my second surgery, Bob and I were standing in a Russian orphanage meeting Alek and Olyvia for the first time. God waited on me to come to terms with my illness. I waited on God to match us up with the most wonderful children. There’s another expression that comes to mind. “It’s worth the wait.”