Expectant Waiting....really?

Advent.  A time of "expectant waiting."  As we begin a new year (in the Christian calendar) this coming Sunday, the idea of expectant waiting is sounding great to me.  It's just not much of a reality for most of us during this incredibly busy time of the year.

I am careful to always finish my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving in the hopes of creating an atmosphere of expectant waiting.  But I find there is always something to fill the space, some new project, work, the needs of others, life. 

So in a world where most of us become impatient waiting on a digital music download, or, horrors, having to wait in line for more than 5 minutes at the market, how to we wait expectantly?

I think what we look for is what we find.

If we wait and watch, expecting to find God all around us, expecting to see grace, and love, and hope, we will find our expectations realized. 

So even in the midst of the chaos of shopping, cooking, cleaning, guests, and social obligations, my prayer is that we wait, expectant, for opportunities to love, to be peaceful, to serve, to meet the needs of others, to love and be loved.

What we look for is what we find.

Peace,
Teresa