Waiting...

Earlier this month I read a Christmas devotion written by Henri Nouwen titled “Waiting for God.” If this small sample is how he writes, I may have discovered another favorite Christian writer!  (Note to self: after Christmas, look up some of his books.) This particular Advent thought—waiting--has captured my attention and kept my thoughts as the days of December have passed by.

Perhaps--well, I know--it is because we, as a family, are waiting for the arrival of a baby, a grandbaby. Our baby is not the long awaited Messiah, but we are waiting just the same, so when I read about Zechariah and Elizabeth waiting for their miracle baby--John; and Mary waiting; and Simeon and Anna waiting, I have entered into the Christmas story this year in a new and dynamic way: I am waiting too! For a baby!


Waiting—with a sense of promise. “People who wait have received a promise that allows them to wait. They have received something that is at work in them….”

Waiting—actively. “…to be present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it.”

Waiting—patiently. “…the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”

Waiting—with hope. “Hope is trusting that something will be fulfilled, but fulfilled according to the promises and not just according to our wishes.”

We wait with joy in our hearts to celebrate God’s gift of love to us, His Son Jesus; Immanuel, God With Us.


And we wait with joy to welcome another of God’s gifts to us: a new baby into our family.