When in doubt...Wait

Father, forgive me, it has been one month since my last blog... (I do apologize).

We begin this blog tonite, maybe, with your inner commentary, "Well.. I've been waiting." Yes.. I am aware... and I do realize how long it has been..(November completely took off and I never looked back).
But in regard to waiting, I thought it so appropriate to start December's blog entries with precisely that..."Waiting" or in my world, "Advent". Yes, friends it is the season of Waiting. We will now wait with open and quiet hearts through these last 4 weeks of darkness. We are waiting for our light to shine through..to arrive, to come, to breakthrough and knock us over. Thankfully God doen't make it such a lengthy wait.
Today-at-EDS we discussed this very season, Advent.

The children..they waited today for me to hurry on up and finish my rather long chapel sermon about the coming of Jesus and how it all happened. They waited. We are waiting for the arrival of St. Nick, (aka Santa) in a mere 23 days now. I am waiting, (and slightly panicking about waiting 18 days until our Christmas show). I have also been waiting for a number of things myself. I am waiting and anticipating the news of a friend's good fortune to manifest. I am waiting to settle into a cozy and quiet winter ahead. I am waiting for the advent of my own life to manifest in as many ways that I can handle..aren't we all? Yes.. waiting. I think Carly Simon coined the phrase, "Anticipation..it's making me late..it's keeping me waaaiiiting!" She wasn't wrong in the anticipatory part.. that sensation always makes for good waiting...it is in the "making me late part"... that I think we need to delve further into... perhaps lateness is right on time? And with God... it is always in God's time when the windows and doors just open miracously one after another when we are good waiters and listeners!

Jesus came to us exactly when he was supposed to. It had been discussed and prophesied for hundreds of years about HIS coming. My goodness, if you read any of Isaiah...you sit and wonder, "WELL when is this guy getting here already?" We are a starving people, in more ways than one." Great.. the Holy Spirit takes care of that..He send manna from the sky when we need it...we weren't ready yet for the Son of Man. How about the desert and Moses? 40 years..hmm? That's alot of waiting...(and walking for that matter).. again, not ready. How about Noah on the Ark with the animals of the world, and his family for 40 days and nights...(I think I might prefer my stay with the zebras sometimes when I think of that scenario..sorry Mom and Dad and girls). Again waiting for the sign. The good word. When will it get here? Are we there yet??

We live in a world where waiting is not the norm anymore. (Could you imagine anyone in today's high-tech society waiting for any of those above mentioned events to come and deliver its goods?) Myself included, and I consider myself a patient woman! Heck, Domino's promises us 30 minutes and then we are not obliged to pay for the pizza... imagine if God worked like that? The problem with that is that if God delivered everything we waited on in 30 minutes we wouldn't know what to do with it...OR RECOGNIZE it..when it arrived! And better, it wouldn't satisfy our hunger or thirst as in those 30 minutes we may want Chinese.. (I know this happens, ask my friend Miss Terri!)

It is hard to wait. It is harder for some than others. And quite honestly, I suppose it does depend on what it is we are waiting for. Are we desperate enough? Do we genuinely have a need and a void that requires attention. Yes.. the world had those two desires in its wait for Jesus. And look what they still did to Him?? The very thing they had been promised for centuries. The very thing they escaped out of Egypt for. The very thing that some are still waiting upon. But God finally thought the timing was perfect enough to send His only son to us. And the conditions couldn't have been better. Really?? you say? and I say, yes, really. A stable, a humble and willing couple who were PETRIFIED as to how they got into this thing and gave it all up to the Holy Spirit to figure it out for them. They waited for the map quest from God and got it when the Magi showed up. They waited for everything and they didn't blink..they knew when the time was right they would make their move...it happened right along. What if the trip to Bethlehem never took place?... what if Joseph didn't trust His God and stand up for Mary? What if Mary said "No".. she could've?? God loves us that much to let US mess up His plans for us... amazing and yet they didn't do anything like that. They waited, they listened and they walked through he darkness until they saw the light. SOmetimes the right thing IS NOT THE EASY THING. The signs were all provided. When it was time to flee Israel, they left and layed low for a number of years in Egypt..ironic? They didn't make a move until God notified them somehow... the angels are God's "text-messengers". (Iwish my texting plan had angel delivery).

When was the last time you had a significant dream? I had one the other night. It was chock-full of symbology?...of my own psychosis catching up with me?... it was a message about what is coming if I choose to wait for the advent of this event in my life.. I know it is rather ancient and naive..but I figure if it was good enough for the biblical elite to move ahead with their lives based on dream-notification, I should probably honor its importance as well.

These days I have read some VERY heavy duty stuff on the Holy Spirit and how it operates. Waiting and asking is all part of that process. The happiness you seek is on the road marked advent. Your life is quite valuable... not only to you but to those you touch. Remember George Bailey folks???? This is how God gets his work done. When you say no to waiting or listening to God..know that it is okay.. but you are inevitably tying up your own progress by not going down the road of life which is 2-ways. By travelling the route of "Thames St"... one-way... you are not able to readily get off and turn around so quickly. You and God must travel together. Waiting at the yellow light only implies, "caution"...

In this Advent season I hope you come to seek the HS (Holy Spirit) in a way you have never had to or wanted to before. He is the living Jesus among us. Wait for Him and He will surely deliver you your season of Christmas. Have faith..Adeste Fideles...and when in doubt... wait.

Miss Dawn, Dawn M. Grinnell
Director, Emmanuel Day School and Children's Formation