Still Waiting

The top two questions my family keeps hearing are, “How’s Raegan feeling?” and “Are you hoping for a girl or a boy?” It’s really quite comical that we are coming down to the final days of pregnancy and it’s the middle of the advent season. Advents are times of waiting and filled with lots of anticipation. We can’t speed up the clock no matter how eager we are to move forward. Patience is a difficult task because we so desperately want to fast-forward to the preferred destination. Many think waiting periods are simply painful and idle times but this isn’t so. Waiting periods are tremendous opportunities for preparation. Listen to the words of Paul describing the birth of the redeemer…

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

Another translation uses the phrase, “When the right time came”. I think this passage says a lot about the timing of God. God has a timeliness about him that I often find myself complaining about. The fact is that God’s timing is perfect and we usually disagree because we fail to see the big picture. I find that too many times I am trying to rush things along not enjoying the journey along the way. Are you like me and anxious about something? Is it possible God uses these advents to stretch us and cause us to move closer to him?

I think that advent times are times for personal growth. Picture Jesus in Gethsemane, the disciples waiting in the upper room for Pentecost and the father waiting for the return of his prodigal son. I’m sure that each of these waiting periods were times of deep spiritual growth. Instead of just biding time, these individuals dwelt in prayer and mental preparation.

I was amazed this week during my son’s case conference. It happened as I took part in the evaluation of my son’s growth over the past 10 months. Each of the goals that were set up in his IEP were met with outstanding success. I am so grateful for the terrific job that the staff at St. Joseph Institute is doing with Harrison. I’m equally as grateful for Johnson County Special Services and for their extreme generosity and superb commitment to my son’s education. These successes haven’t been achieved overnight. It’s taken consistent dedication and a profound persistence by so many people to get Harrison where he is today.

I pray that you will appreciate the times of waiting you find yourself in choosing to look at them as opportunities to better yourself and help others as you grow closer to the Savior celebrating his coming.

Happy Advent & Merry Christmas,

Pastor Jeremy