Several years ago I wrote a blog post on waiting which happens to be the theme of the Advent season. I thought it might be worthy of a second read but with some updated versions of my waiting.
One of the most obvious waiting practices this year for all of us has been that of trying daily to keep our patience with this prolonged pandemic. As the number of cases of sickness and death grow, we wait for relief and healing. Thankfully some good vaccines are now approved and people will hopefully wait in lines to get vaccinated. This is a good waiting, I believe.
My heart waits to physically be united with my loved ones to fully embrace once again and not worry. This social distancing is getting really old, but it must be followed if we are to keep others safe as well as ourselves.
My migraine journey has transformed over the few years, and I am most grateful for being able to live my life enjoying the present moment instead of constantly waiting for my body to cooperate. That particular waiting feels small and frustrating. However, God sees my waiting, and He is alongside me in this process.
My active waiting has continued to teach me patience with myself as well as with circumstances beyond my control. Less expecting. More accepting.
I believe we are all waiting to cross over into the new year with hope of some better times ahead. We are exhausted from doing hard things. But we keep going day after day with all the strength we can muster. Maybe taking deep breaths while we wait is the most we can do for ourselves and our loved ones. Let that be enough.
From my heart to yours, I wish you sincere joy and peace this Christmas season has to offer. May you continue to stay safe and well as you await the beautiful Incarnation of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
My reality several years ago looked like this:
Here we find ourselves in the beginning of the Advent Season. For Christians, it is a special, liturgical season when we prepare our hearts for the Incarnation. It is a most sacred time of interior reflection as well as practicing "waiting".
I don't know about you, but I am not especially gifted with patience and waiting under certain circumstances. That being said, the more I pray for the opportunity to increase in virtue, the more the good Lord sees fit to answer my requests! Ouch! As "they" say, be careful what you pray for. LOL.
My first week of Advent was mostly spent tethered to my couch or the bed trying to cope with yet another migraine marathon of epic proportion which unleashed its reign of terror on my body for days and nights on end. Waiting was the only thing (besides begging and praying ) that I could actually do. I sure had other plans for that first week---like decorating just a bit, looking up some fun cookie recipes, getting some organization to my Christmas lists, and preparing for an upcoming trip for the holidays to visit family, to name just a few. But, no, my body and its illness had other plans.
So, my waiting began...
wait for the meds to work
wait for the time to take the next dose
wait to be able to open my eyes enough to see where I am going
wait for the passing of the many awful neurological symptoms to abate enough to even move
wait for my husband to come home from work to help me in my fragile state
and on and on the waiting went... minutes seemed like hours and days were lost.
All the while I waited, I definitely prayed and prayed hard. I actually did reflect a lot about Advent and how Mary must have felt as she waited those months and days before giving birth to our Savior and then waiting for a place to even labor and bring Jesus into this world.
My struggles are teaching me valuable lessons on waiting. Waiting can be productive and redemptive if I allow it. Waiting slows me down and teaches me to live with a more purposeful and intentional mindset. While I do still pray for healing and certainly much better management of my current chronic condition, I am always amazed at my ongoing transformation in the journey.
Even if you are not celebrating Christmas due to your own background and tradition, can you still find value in waiting through your own struggles? Is waiting easy or hard for you? Maybe helping someone else who might be having a hard time waiting for one reason or another right now would be a great gift to offer this time of year. Any easing of suffering in the waiting, I can assure you, would be a most generous gift of the heart.
I decided to call my new orchid "Advent Orchid" as it started to
I don't know about you, but I am not especially gifted with patience and waiting under certain circumstances. That being said, the more I pray for the opportunity to increase in virtue, the more the good Lord sees fit to answer my requests! Ouch! As "they" say, be careful what you pray for. LOL.
My first week of Advent was mostly spent tethered to my couch or the bed trying to cope with yet another migraine marathon of epic proportion which unleashed its reign of terror on my body for days and nights on end. Waiting was the only thing (besides begging and praying ) that I could actually do. I sure had other plans for that first week---like decorating just a bit, looking up some fun cookie recipes, getting some organization to my Christmas lists, and preparing for an upcoming trip for the holidays to visit family, to name just a few. But, no, my body and its illness had other plans.
So, my waiting began...
wait for the meds to work
wait for the time to take the next dose
wait to be able to open my eyes enough to see where I am going
wait for the passing of the many awful neurological symptoms to abate enough to even move
wait for my husband to come home from work to help me in my fragile state
and on and on the waiting went... minutes seemed like hours and days were lost.
All the while I waited, I definitely prayed and prayed hard. I actually did reflect a lot about Advent and how Mary must have felt as she waited those months and days before giving birth to our Savior and then waiting for a place to even labor and bring Jesus into this world.
My struggles are teaching me valuable lessons on waiting. Waiting can be productive and redemptive if I allow it. Waiting slows me down and teaches me to live with a more purposeful and intentional mindset. While I do still pray for healing and certainly much better management of my current chronic condition, I am always amazed at my ongoing transformation in the journey.
Even if you are not celebrating Christmas due to your own background and tradition, can you still find value in waiting through your own struggles? Is waiting easy or hard for you? Maybe helping someone else who might be having a hard time waiting for one reason or another right now would be a great gift to offer this time of year. Any easing of suffering in the waiting, I can assure you, would be a most generous gift of the heart.
I decided to call my new orchid "Advent Orchid" as it started to
bloom while I waited. It bloomed patiently and silently.
I love learning from Mother Nature as well.
