Just the mention of the word brings moans. Nobody really likes it, looks forward to it, hopes to encounter it on any given day. We spend a lot of time avoiding it. Trying to get around it as best we can.
I heard the black Friday shopping story over lunch today. My friend spending hours in one store with hundreds of others to get the best deals. She told of a parking lot so full the cars were overflowing in the grass and surrounding businesses. Black numbers written on your hand to insure the purchase of a television. Happy shoppers getting there in time to get what they wanted. Not so happy shoppers lamenting the time spent after realizing that supplies didn't last quite long enough. All the while I'm thinking to myself, "no amount of savings is worth that kind of waiting!"
I wonder what it must have been like for those who were waiting for the one Isaiah talked about. God's entire nation waiting and waiting and waiting. Many died waiting. Many didn't recognize when the waiting came to an end. Some probably gave up. Others might have been a lot like me, "nothing is worth all this waiting!"
Advent is a whole season of waiting. Time to prepare our hearts for the coming. The children and I sing,
"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed.
The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky look down where he lay.
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay."
Song words spark images in my heart. Two travelers weary and worn finding rest in a stable. A mother recognizing the first of many pains that gave no rest. Husband, soon to be father, wishing he could do more to help in some way. Cries of a child filling tiny lungs with oxygen for the first time. Warm pink skin and bands of cloth. Ten curled fingers and ten tiny toes laid there in a manger.
The whole wide world has been waiting for this. The line to see the unfolding of this moment was thousands of years long. All heaven and earth is on pins and needles with anticipation. This is the type of waiting I want for Advent season. A waiting wrapped in joy and expectation, filled with love and wonder. I'll surely get in line for this and gladly say, "This is a saving worth waiting for!"
Need some help with the waiting? These are a few of my favorites
FUMC's Advent Devotional--daily devotional written by members of our church family. Complete with Saturday Sabbath Moments and Sunday Advent Wreath ideas.
The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp--This Jesse Tree thing has become a tradition at my house. This one has ornaments you can download and daily reflections.
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift--new this year and I love it. A story book version of Ann Voskamp's The Greatest Gift. It has beautiful artwork and family activities for each day.
Rethink Church--This facebook page has an Advent daily devotional you can have e-mailed to you.
