What Are You Waiting For?
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1: 22-23)
It’s Christmas time… a season we equate with so many “things”. Lights, trees, the colors of red and green, family gatherings, Santa, gifts, just to name a few. I love Christmas. The air turns brisk and cold, I wait in anticipation for snow to blanket the earth, and hope fills my heart like it does no other time of year. Why do our hearts hope at Christmas? Because we know what is to come.
The season of Advent is about that hope for what is to come. In a way, we celebrate the art of waiting for Christ’s return. O Come O Come Emmanuel is a classic 9th century Latin hymn that beautifully illustrates this season of anticipation. The song is a plea to release Israel from the longing they feel for the Messiah to arrive.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
These are words from the first verse – but it was originally intended to be the last verse – the climax of the song – where the culmination of all the other verses ended. This climax poetically offers the feeling of hope that enters our hearts more fully during the season of Advent.
What are you waiting for this Christmas? It’s a profound question, one not easy to answer. We spend our lives waiting for things… some good, some bad. Some are just things. But the waiting needs to have a reverence to it, for it’s more than just the waiting – it’s recognizing that God is in the moment. We are to live in this moment for him, while eagerly looking forward to His return.
Waiting equals hope. If there wasn’t the hope of fulfillment at the end of the wait, we wouldn’t wait. We would simply sit back and watch it all unfold. But Christ’s return deserves more than just watching. It deserves the excitement of our hearts, the longing for His peace, the anticipation for His return; for we are not whole without him. That is why we eagerly wait for Him to come.
O Come O Come Emmanuel… Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to us O Israel.
He will come, and we will rejoice.
The Joy of Celebration
It’s quite cold here in the central part of the state. The wind is biting and chilling us to the bones. I’ve finally dug out my winter coat and searched in vain for my hat this morning. It’s just as well… my hair looked too good to cover up anyway. Hee. It’s now the first day of December and we still haven’t had snow.
This time of the year usually offers a different kind of reflection for me. Part of it’s the season of Christmas, and another is the wintery weather. But the biggest part of it, I think, is the busyness. We equate this time of year with rushing… through stores, to work, back home, at rehearsals, to church, to get-togethers and parties, to bible study… It is a busy time of year – but why is it busy? The most obvious answer is because we make it that way. Our choice lead to busyness. But for me, it’s more than that. My reason for busyness is a little bit of a paradox.
The most hectic part of my life this Christmas season is my work at the church. Aside from my regular responsibilities, I’m directing a musical with a cast of 40 – small potatoes compared to what most directors are dealing with this time of year. But what is my reason for this extra “busyness” during an already busy time of year?
The celebration.
I don’t direct a musical each Christmas because I’m expected to, or because I like to boss people around, or even because I enjoy the process. I do it because I want to celebrate Christmas.
The show we are doing this year is centered around the theme of hope. It’s takes place in 1941, the year of Pearl Harbor, and we watch a woman who’s husband is in the Air Force, watch, wonder and wait for him to come home for the holidays. By the end of the show she’s realized that dreams don’t always work out the way we want them to – sometimes so God can make a bigger dream. Maybe even so God can suprise us. It’s hard to accept sometimes, but it’s joyful to know that God has something for us, even if it’s not what we want.
It’s reminders like these why I choose busyness. I need them. As always, God teaches me something through the process. (That’s another celebration for me, by the way.) But I must be careful to never allow the busyness to overcome the occasion, as I refuse to become like my grandmother, who always let the preparations of family gathering overtake the joy that came from seeing everyone. The celebration of Christ’s birth? Is why I love Christmas. It’s why I celebrate.
May your hectic Christmas season be one of celebration, joy and peace.
Now I’m going to have a cup of coffee.
What I’m listening to: City on a Hill’s It’s Christmas Time
What I’m reading: Robert Whitlow’s The Sacrifice
Laughter at the Office
I got laughed at today. Hard.
It’s not really embarrassing. A co-worker laughed at me. To the point where he nearly fell off his chair.
I love Jay. He’s a 40 yr. old man in a 24 yr. old’s body. (The little brother I never had, I tell him). He’s the picture of professionalism, very good at his job, yet usually isn’t afraid to have fun. Today he had fun because he laughed at me. I don’t remember all the details (it wasn’t that interesting) but I do remember that he said something to me that made me think of a sarcastic and mean comment. I bit my tongue and said nothing. He could tell I wanted to say something, so he called me on it. I told him I wasn’t going to say what I was thinking because I was simply working on being a nicer person. So he thoughtfully and sincerely asked “What brought this about?” to which I replied. “I hate people.”
This is where the laughter began. Incessant, non-stop laughter. For a looooooong time. So long that I started laughing because… well, it was funny.
Am I a nice person? I really don’t know. It’s possible I have my moments. It’s also possible the moments are just about sucking up. It’s also possible I’m just being too hard on myself. Either way, my co-worker didn’t disagree with me. (Nor did he agree.) He just laughed.
I wonder if I would be happier than I am now if I was a nice person. Are the two connected? No one in my life is particularly mean to me, so either I have really thick skin or I’m too selfish to notice when someone’s being mean back. (The latter of which is the more likely scenario.)
There really is no point to this story. I just kind of enjoyed the fact that someone had a good laugh at my expense today.
I don’t know why, but I find this test hysterically funny. Probably because I’m not nice. Are they serious with some of those questions? It’s amazing what Google can find.
25 Things Most People Don’t Know About Me
1.) I’m addicted to Orbit’s Sweet Mint gum.
2.) I am the most like my dad, but I fear I am turning into my mother.
3.) The crock pot is my favorite invention (next to the DVD player).
4.) I think The Office is one of the funniest shows on the planet.
5.) I have an aversion to the name “Robby” for an inexplicable reason.
6.) My favorite place to go is the beach – or anywhere near the ocean.
7.) Last year, for my dad’s birthday present, I surprised him by playing a guitar solo for the first time during a communion service. I played his favorite song Amazing Grace and he cried. I won’t ever play that song for anyone else.
8.) I hate Wal-Mart (for all the reasons you’d think).
9.) I hate K-Mart (but not for the reasons you’d think).
10.) I loathe JJ Abrahms. And Alias was one of my favorite shows (until Season 3).
11.) The cars I’ve owned are red, white and blue. (Not all at the same time and not on purpose.)
12.) I have an embarrassing weakness for Chick Lit.
13.) I hate the smell of vanilla, coconut, magnolias or cinnamon.
14.) I cannot make Jello.
15.) I hate to sew, even though my mom and my grandmother have made it one of the biggest parts of their lives.
16.) I was devastated (okay, not really) when I hate to cut my nails to learn how to play guitar.
17.) I am a terrible typist. (Although you can really tell that just by reading one of my posts).
18.) My favorite classic TV show is The Cosby Show.
19.) I have no desire to have kids. Not even a little.
20.) I’d rather be behind the scenes than on stage (preferably as director so I can tell people what to do)
21.) I am in touch with no one from high school. This is very intentional, and I couldn’t care less.
22.) I adore lime flavored tic tacs. All the other flavors are gross.
23.) I also adore Skeet Ulrich. But not for the reason you’d think.
24.) Hallmark commercials make me cry. (And this is related the #23).
25.) I think Will Ferrell is really, really, really funny. And I never thought I’d ever type that sentence.
The Huskers and OJ
The Colorado/Nebraska game is this Friday. I cannot even remember a time when we didn’t play this team the day after Thanksgiving, nor can I remember a time when they were acually a team I enjoyed watching play the Huskers.(Be gone, oranges on the field!)
One of the benefits of reading some Nebraska blogs is they often link to other blogs, one I hadn’t crossed before. Read this joke to enjoy a good poke at the Buffs. Warning: offensive language. The joke is funny enough for me to still link to it, though.
That being said, please don’t read anything else on the blog. It makes us Nebraskans look…well.. ignorant.
On the pop culture side – what the heck is OJ thinking? What an idiot.
Stephanie Nelson 