"I want an Oompa Loompa now, Daddy!"

When I was in elementary school, I had a knack for doing voice imitations (or at least my mom thought so). In 5th and 6th grade, I even performed a comedy routine in our school's talent show doing imitations of the likes of Steve Urkel, Sylvester the Cat, Katharine Hepburn, Elmyra Duff (Tiny Toons) and Veruca Salt (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
(By the way, if you ask me to perform these now, I will not. Sorry. Just not gonna do it.)

This post's title is a quote from Veruca. Veruca Salt was the spoiled little girl who craved instant gratification. She saw an Oompa Loompa and wanted it. NOW. Golden-egg-laying Goose? NOW!

Sometimes, I'm like Veruca. No, I'm not desirous of possessing a little orange man or even one of those fancy geese. But, I do want what I want. And too often I want it NOW.

Maybe I don't stand up and sing a song about it in a room full of people, but I'm all too prone to thinking about my will, my way and my wants.

God's been revealing to me some of my Veruca ways recently. Including my propensity for wanting things on my time. Mostly for me, it's not about wanting 'stuff' but instead wanting things done.

Like in our recent move, there are a hundred (maybe not quite that many) different things I want done. Blinds up, curtains hung, dryer fixed... blah, blah, blah. And of course I don't want to wait. I don't want to have to be patient. I just want everything finished, and a nice shiny red bow on top wouldn't be too much to ask either.

But, God's teaching me that it's okay to wait. It's okay if things are a bit chaotic, flawed or unfinished. They'll get done eventually. Or maybe they won't. It's not the end of the world. There's bigger things to focus on than getting my next Oompa Loompa... or dryer working.