We lived with my in-laws for a year and a half while waiting for the time to start building a house for us. It was a season wrapped in a warm welcome and rich in provision. They took us in, and it’s a kindness I don’t take for granted.

But I was restless while waiting. Eager to cook in the comfort of my own kitchen. Longing for slow, serene evenings with my husband and son. Wanting to plant seeds into soil that is mine to tend.

It seemed like we were deep in the tunnel with no light in sight. Just roadblocks, obscurity, and the relentless wrestle for patience.

I echoed David’s weary words with a heavy heart so many times. How long, Lord?

I didn’t see it then, but while I was waiting, God was working in me and in others to answer each of our prayers in His perfect time, and He would do it in a way far beyond what I could hope for.

It turns out that the family renting the mobile home down the road, on the land we plan to build our house, was hoping for a place to call their own, just as I was.

It was around Thanksgiving that Michael and I heard the news: They bought a house and would be leaving around Christmas.

God answering their prayers opened the door of that mobile home for us to move into come January and settle on the very ground where we’ll build our forever home.

This stepping stone doesn’t look glamorous on the outside. But, oh, dear reader, it is a place where every chore, every meal, every quiet moment in the morning becomes a reminder that joy isn’t reserved for final outcomes. We find it in His faithfulness as we walk with Him from where we are to where we are meant to be.

I can sing the words of Psalm 13:6 because, like David, He deals bountifully with me. He is shaping me in the waiting, where trust is stretched and deepened.

If you’re in a season of “how long?”, remember that God is not idle. Perhaps He is answering your prayers with a “yes” by first answering the prayers of others. He’s not only orchestrating your story; He’s weaving all of His children’s lives together, creating a far bigger and more beautiful story than we could ever imagine.

Hang on, dear reader. He is dealing bountifully with you, too. Hope and time are never wasted when we place them in the hands of our faithful God.

Songs for seasons such as this: