waiting… ~ part one ~ advent series ~

What are you waiting for?

Much of life feels like a waiting game.

Waiting. To grow up. The next birthday. Get a drivers license. Go on your first date. Land the perfect job. Get married. Buy a house. Have a day with nothing on your agenda. Reach that significant birthday. The perfect holiday. Retire.

And … Waiting in line. For Friday to come. For lunch with a friend. For that deposit in your bank account. For a tough day, or year, to end. Waiting. For so many things

Maybe you’re waiting for something more… A true friend. A closer relationship with your spouse or children. Answers to important questions. Healing in yourself or a relationship. 

As children, many of us waited impatiently for Christmas. Parents may have wanted to keep it secret but retailers wanted us all to know. This year I saw Christmas in stores in August! August until end of December, that’s a long wait for a child!

There’s something about waiting for Christmas. Something different than the waiting for other celebrations. There’s an expectation, and not just for the gifts. There’s a yearning, and not just for the turkey and desserts. 

An anticipation, that this year Christmas will deliver on it’s promises. 

We can sweeten up the waiting with Advent calendars. So many to choose from! There’s something for everybody. A calendar made from fabric, paper, cardboard, wood, or maybe a jigsaw puzzle. Then choose your “filling.” Little toys, bigger toys, Lego, Playmobil, Polly Pocket, plush toys, Hot Wheels and more. Or you could go the more traditional route and choose one with a beautiful cardboard nativity scene with a window to open each day which feature a picture related to the Nativity. A wooden drawer set features a nativity character in each drawer. 

The cardboard calendar with a beautiful nativity scene and a little wrapped chocolate behind each window has certainly evolved. 

According to Dictionary.com, advent is a noun meaning “a coming into place, view or being; arrival: the advent of the holiday season.” Also that “(in the Christian religion) the period of approximately four weeks before Christmas.”

The OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com agrees advent is a noun. It is “the coming or arrival of something or someone that is important or worthy of note. “The advent of the computer.” As well, “The liturgical period preceding Christmas, beginning in Western churches on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and in Eastern churches in mid-November, and observed by many Christians as a season or prayer, fasting, and penitence.”

Advent is waiting. Again.

Often our impatient waiting does not result in the outcome we imagined. We’re let down as expectations fall short. Even so we keep waiting for the next thing on our list.

As the retailers, in our towns and online, bombard us with gift suggestions. As the grocery stores and social media “experts” expound the perfect menu and recipes. As we despair of finding a decent parking spot. As music, TV and streaming services exploit the Christmas season with little acknowledgment of what it is. As much as Christmas is meant to be a season of joy, it’s hard to find it anywhere. 

Almost as long as there’s been time, people have waited. It’s in our DNA. That yearning. And at Christmas, that expectation is rampant. People buy, make, decorate, cook, bake, visit, party and buy some more. Their efforts fall short every year. Year after year searching. 

Yearning.

An intense or overpowering longing or need; craving, deep, anxious longing. 

A deep longing especially when accompanied by tenderness or sadness.

A persistent, often melancholy desire. A wistful or melancholy longing.

What are we waiting for?

Let’s journey together…