Is It Microwavable?

I admit that I'm part of the microwave generation. I don't typically cook in the microwave (in fact mine is broken right now), but they are handy for heating things up quickly - and in a pinch, you can, if you choose, cook your dinner in one.

It's not just microwaves, though. My generation is accustomed to fast food, jiffy lubes, quick drying fingernail polish, etc. We want it and we want it as quickly as possible.

Now that I'm getting older, all kinds of things are happening that I'd like to have a quick fix for. My children (both in their teens) are more challenging than ever to raise. They're faced with situations and decisions that I'd like to be able to make quickly for them. Sometimes I can - and do. But other times I have to wait to see what'll happen. I hate that.

My mom is getting older. Her health isn't the best, and my siblings and I have had to deal with the fact that she isn't going to be around forever. We've had wait for her to make decisions that we'd rather make for her (I guess turn about's fair play...).

My ex-husband is dying of cancer. So far it's been an excruciating two year battle for him and his new wife. My kids have a lot ahead of them to deal with. Grief that I can only imagine as both of my parents are still alive. I'd like the fast food version of grief for them. I'd like them to process all of this quickly - for the pain to be over soon. But it doesn't work that way.

My brother in law has lost three of the four people who were most responsible for his up-bringing and stability in the last six or nine months. On top of that, he just found out that he probably has Parkinson's Disease. On top of that, he's still processing the break-up of his first family (my sister's his second wife). It's a lot to deal with. Can't a guy catch a break?! It's a bunch of stuff that you want to just get through, so that you can move on, feel joy again.

I'm pretty sure that all these experiences are common occurrences in the lives of folks in their mid forties. Your parents are aging, you're aging yourself, your kids are growing. Life gets more complicated. I wonder if the generations before the microwave generation dealt with this stuff more realistically? I wonder if they knew intuitively that there's no getting over or around or above it? Did they know they had to go through and that their issues were not "microwavable?"

I've spent the last couple of years wishing that there was an easier way. There's not. Sometimes you have to be willing to sit silently in the dust and ashes and wait. Sometimes you have to slog your way through to the end. That's the way life is. If you want to live well, if you want to live faithfully and meaningfully, you have to be willing to walk slowly through the times of your life - all of them. Thankfully you don't have to do it by yourself. God's in it with you. Your family and friends are all fellow pilgrims - all on a similar journey. We can share together the fellowship of travelers along pleasant paths and arduous ones. Thanks be to God!