Waiting... Waiting... Waiting...

It's Advent. This is not new, and if you're reading this blog at all, you most likely know that. Advent is a time of waiting in joyful hope for the coming of Christ. It is a time to wait and reflect. And although I am still learning about Advent, I do love it. I love that it helps to focus me on the reason for the season. The Churches are not decorated for Christmas... instead, there are advent wreaths. Priests wear purple colored vestments. It's a time and a space to get away from the hub-bub of shopping and the secular side of celebrations.

And in my reflections, it's once again very apparent to me that I don't wait well. To sit, and "just be" to be quiet and not immersed in busy work, is something that is practically impossible. I struggle with slowing my mind down, and just thinking. I told someone earlier this week that for me, waiting was like slugging my way through a bad book. I just want impatiently to get to the end of the book and know how things turned out. Everyone laughed at that, but I realized that in "skipping" to the end may give me an answer.. yet I would end up missing so much along the way. And in missing out, the answer I had gotten prematurely, would most likely not have as much meaning.

Awareness of this, however, has it's benefits. Last night, for instance, we were stuck in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic. I was running late and more than a little stressed. It suddenly occurred to me that I could use this time, to just stop, and reflect on Advent and the coming of Christ.

Being more aware, and paying attention allows for good lessons to be learned. I just have to find the time to slow down... and of course, there's no time like the present!