I’m excited to introduce Melinda Patrick, our guest author. She understands the hurting heart of a parent. Our children sometimes choose to stay on their path to destruction, and we are stuck waiting and hoping. Melinda is here to offer advice for us during our season of waiting.

He moved. I moved.
Then he leapt—smugly—over two of my marbles.
Without thinking, I countered. Reflex, not strategy.

Back and forth we went, for several tense minutes. Then I looked down and saw something unsettling: the Chinese Checkers board had shifted completely out of balance—and not in my favor.

Somewhere between aggressive hops and rushed responses, I’d lost the thread.
I was no longer playing to win; I was reacting, flailing, distracted.
A few more poor moves sealed it.
In desperation, I threw up my hands and made the universal sign of surrender: a big, exaggerated “T.”

“TIME OUT! Time out!” I said.

My husband looked up, eyebrow raised, amused.
“There’s no time out in Chinese Checkers.”

Maybe not.
But I needed one—badly.

I was unraveling, and the only way back was to pause, breathe, and remember the plan I had long abandoned.

Lost in a Season of Waiting

Okay, maybe getting lost in a game of Chinese Checkers isn’t your story.
But maybe this is: you’re stuck in a season of waiting.

Waiting for a loved one to open up about their struggle.
Longing for healing or freedom—for them or for yourself.
Hoping for reconciliation in a broken relationship.
Praying the tides will finally turn and “normal”  – whatever that is – will return.

This waiting has worn you thin.
Hope deferred does make the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12).
And if we’re honest, many of us entered the wait with good intentions—we’d wait well and trust the process, we told ourselves.
But now?
Now we just want it to be over.

In that Chinese Checkers game, I realized how I’d gotten lost:
I stopped following my plan. I began reacting to my husband’s every move.
Not strategy—just survival.

And we do the same in life.

Instead of responding to God and trusting His timing and plan, we start reacting to people and circumstances.
We lose our way.
We lose ourselves.

But Scripture gently calls us back:

“Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)

Be: to come into existenceSteadfast: firm, unwavering, resolute

In a world that pulls at your heart, that demands your attention and tries to rewrite your identity, God invites you to stand firm.

Waiting is hard.
But with God—it’s not wasted.

So maybe it’s time for your own “time out”—not to quit, but to reset.
To return to who God created you to be – because the authentic, God-created-you is the one the world needs.

3 Steps to Anchor Yourself in a Season of Waiting

1. Pause and take time to heal.
You can’t force healing in someone else. But you can tend to your own.
Waiting seasons often stir up bitterness, resentment, and envy. Left unchecked, they can quietly harden our hearts.
Instead of ignoring those wounds, take time to confront and care for them.
This work matters.
And when your loved one is finally ready for healing, you’ll be in a strong, grace-filled place to walk with them—not from desperation, but from wholeness.

You can't force someone else to heal, but you can tend to your own. Melinda Patrick offers us advice for when we are waiting for a loved one to heal. Lost in a Season of Waiting #hopefulmom #difficultconversations
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2. Take a deep breath in and make room for the Holy Spirit to move and work.
Sometimes, we get in the way of our own prayers.
I don’t know about you but many times have I prayed for God to move in someone’s life—only to jump up and try to fix it myself.
When we do that, we can crowd out the Holy Spirit.
God has a role. We have a role.
Let the Spirit lead.
Reflect on these verses and ask yourself: am I creating space for the Holy Spirit to work?
John 16:7-8, Psalm 146:8, John 16:13-15, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Philippians 4:6

3. Remember the Lord’s faithfulness.        

The biggest mistakes I have made are when I didn’t wait on the Lord.

What enables us to wait is knowing we can trust God.

Remembering God’s faithfulness in your own life builds trust and fans the flame of faith.

“The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God, they refused to walk in His laws, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.”  – Psalm 78:9-11

What if this waiting isn’t just about your loved one?
What if God is using it to invite you into something deeper?
Waiting is an opportunity to put your faith to work. It’s an invitation to know God more intimately, to trust Him more completely, and to be transformed more fully.

A Simple Step of Faith:

Take time to write out your testimony—how you’ve seen God move in your life—and tuck it into your Bible or another meaningful place. This simple act does two things:

It rekindles your faith by reminding you of God’s faithfulness.It prepares a legacy of truth for the next generation. Even if your loved one isn’t ready to hear it now, one day they may be—and when that day comes, your testimony will be waiting.You’re not lost. You’re being led.

Even here—especially here—God is at work.

So, take your “time out.”

Pause.
Catch your breath.
And trust the One who sees the end from the beginning. This isn’t the end of your story. It’s only a chapter and suddenly – one day the page will turn.

If you found this post helpful, share this post and leave a comment here for Melinda Patrick. Subscribe to Hopeful Mom for two FREE PDF downloads, keep up with Hopeful Mom on Facebook, and Instagram, and check out Barb’s book Sexpectations here.

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