There is a lot of waiting that takes place at Christmas time. Sure, there is anticipation and celebration and, of course, there is a ton of preparation.

You can see the preparation by how full the parking lots are at the mall, or the crowds filing in and out of Costco. People are looking for presents to give, decorations to display, and food to make.

But besides all that, Christmas is a time of waiting. 

We wait for people to respond to invitations to get together. We wait to see if the day we set the invitation for will be acceptable to those invited. We wait to set dates for when the family can all gather together. 

We wait for the big turkey dinner to be ready on Christmas Day, and the smells of it all cooking make the wait seem never-ending.

We also wait to open presents as we see more and more gifts pile up under the tree. 

I remember when I was little, the waiting was the hardest thing for my brother and I. Most years the waiting was too hard for us and we started snooping around. Our parents had to be good and creative at hiding our presents before Christmas. 

One year we found our big present all wrapped up, trying to blend in on a shelf in our dad’s office area. The waiting was over the top torture. Waterboarding is nothing compared to the waiting that year. 

We thought we were pretty stealth in lifting a corner of the coloured wrapping paper but somehow our parents found out. Christmas morning the present was not in the pile. When we opened all the presents, our parents said because we had peeked, they took that present back. 

Both John and I were quite devastated for a few minutes until they hauled it out. 

It was the biggest hot wheel track set you could buy at the time. 

It was the waiting – or lack of it – that nearly cost us to miss the experience of setting up that hot wheels track and watching our cars zoom the length of our basement.

This year one of the most difficult things was waiting for our kids to arrive for Christmas. And the waiting was hard because they didn’t get here until late Christmas afternoon.

Though Christmas Eve and Christmas morning don’t pause for anything, in effect the waiting for our kids delayed Christmas for us on an emotional level until they got here.

You can’t really get into the whole Christmas spirit when you are still waiting for everyone to show up. We had to be patient and wait until one couple arrived, but then wait longer for the other couple to show up.  

It’s like you can’t start Christmas without them all there. 

Waiting is the nemesis of Christmas, but it is also part of what fuels how big that Christmas is. The unknown, the expectation and the excitement are all exaggerated because of the waiting.

So waiting is what we do at Christmas.

Here’s the thing: For hundreds of years God’s people waited for the birth of the Messiah. There were prophecies and signs of His coming, but they could only wait. Even now we wait for Christ to return. And one day He will. We don’t know when, but we wait. And God waits for all those who have and will be invited to show up. Be sure you are one who’s waiting for Christ. Put your faith and hope in Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What were you waiting for this Christmas? Leave your comments and questions below.

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