Advent. Preparation. Anticipation. How are you with waiting?

I have to admit that I am not that great with the waiting game. I have especially realized this while waiting for my wrist to heal. I am not used to being still. Not. At. All.

Yet when I think about it, most of life requires waiting: wait until a baby is born, wait at least eighteen ( in some cases almost thirty) years for that child to grow and develop, wait for a life partner, adequate education, for a reasonable and/or meaningful job, to retire, for a celebration, for Christmas, for the raise, for deployment, for discharge, for vacation, for a schedule, for the diagnosis, for healing, for acceptance to college, for a train, bus, plane, and ultimately waiting to die.

It is fitting that I should have to slow down and wait during this season of Advent. Traditionally the Advent season is one of waiting for arrivals- the arrival of Christmas and the birth of Christ. But it is more than that, it is a reflective, introspective time of waiting and pondering: reminder of the waiting and anticipation of the arrival of Christ as the Messiah and the waiting for the return of Christ as the Lord of All in a new creation. In essence it is learning to live in the “in-between” time of the fulfilled prophecy and the awaiting promise: the past and the future.

It is learning to live in the present.

I am learning to be grateful for the past and to live in hope for the future. In the case of this broken wing- I am grateful that each day it is healing albeit slowly and I am hopeful that I will have at least 90% or even 100% of my hand/wrist functioning restored.

There are many stories in the Bible where the main character couldn’t wait. They were impetuous and had to take measures into their own hands: Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, David, the Israelites, Peter among others. They may have heard about promises and futures yet they just couldn’t trust God with all the details of their lives. There were times of long waiting. But instead of living in the present- remembering the past and hopeful for the future, they chose to hurry along the in-between time.

I certainly am guilty of living like that. I forget my received blessings and greedily want more. I am so busy planning- what might happen in the next season, month, week, even afternoon- that I miss out on what is happening in the immediate. I need to learn to enjoy and be content with the in-between.

What about you? How are you with waiting? Impatient? Impulsive? Resolved? Do you spend more time in revisiting the past or planning your future?

This Advent I am realizing that the season of waiting applies to so many levels: the calendar time. the physical healing time and the present choice of my daily time.