Day 2 - Advent monday...on tuesday

This post was actually for yesterday but as I do not have easy access to the internet on my computer right now, I did not get the post published. And so, I am writing yesterday's post today.

When I was growing up, my parents always purchased an advent calender for my brother and me. We took turns in opening the doors and I always let him open the first one, not because I was super nice and generous but as my birthday landed on an even day (6th), I wanted to open the door that day. I also became aware that December 24 was always the biggest door and so I would get to open that one too. It had nothing to do with the first shall be last and the last shall be first...

It is cold today, almost cold enough for a snow fall. I am reminded of the song, "In the bleak mid-winter." The words continue, "...Frosty wind made moan. Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. Snow had fallen snow on snow, in the bleak mid-winter, long, long ago."
It is not quite like that yet, but those of us who live in the Mid-west are bracing ourselves to the reality that it's going to get mighty cold out there. The light does not last long either. The sky tonight was losing it's light by 4.30. However, the sky was a glorious array of pinks, orange, and blue giving me a picture of light and beauty reminding me that there is hope in the light even though we only have it for a while.

Jeremiah wrote of God's faithfulness in Lamentations:

"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall...Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. I will say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him'" (Lamentations 3:19, 22-24)

Waiting is not easy. Waiting is not hip. Waiting is not what we want to do when we really want something to happen. Waiting is sometimes too much for us because all around people don't wait. I can hardly wait for my computer to turn on and be ready for me to use. Waiting is not what we are encouraged to do in our daily life but throughout all his hardships and disappointments, Jeremiah learned to wait. Not only that, but he waited on what God had for him, not for what he wanted.

Advent causes us to wait, not to rush forward, but to wait on the Lord and what he has for us. This is not an easy task....it's so counter cultural, it's almost impossible for us to do. But if we wait, we will see God's faithfulness, we will have what we need for this day.

O come, o come, Emmanuel...