Waiting on A Miracle

Hi all! Happy Advent. I cannot believe I am in my 9th month here in Liverpool. I have been keeping busy watching the World Cup with my housemates, running around at work, and continuing to explore and try new places in Liverpool. It is so fun to be here during the holiday season, and to experience the festivities in the cathedral and the city. Of course amidst all of my holiday cheer, I hear my dad's voice yelling that we are CELEBRATING ADVENT and that it is not Christmas yet. He would particularly yell this when mom would put on Christmas music during the month of December, and she would always come back with, "This is me preparing for Jesus!" 

This memory always makes me laugh, but it also always reminds me that Advent is a very important time. It is a time of preparation and waiting. Now, I am not very good at waiting. It is one of my least favorite pastimes. In my older age, I have improved on this, but I still would not consider myself particularly good at patiently waiting. Advent is a great time for me to practice this, and as I reflect on my time in the Young Adult Service Corps, it has involved a lot of waiting and preparation. Through pushed back departure dates, and waiting for visa paperwork, it was difficult to be patient. But in that time, I reminded myself that everything would be worth the wait, and to try and find God in the midst of it all. We often hear that things happen on God's time and not ours, and I really realized the truth in this during my time of waiting and preparation. I have found that in my times of waiting, it is helpful for me to meditate, both on what I am waiting for and what to do while I am waiting. I have learned that, while I like to be in control, there are loads of things that are out of my hands, and I have to trust in God's time.

This is largely what Advent is to me, trusting in God's time. During this time, we commemorate Jesus' first coming and prepare for Jesus' second coming, a coming that will be in God's time. We do not have a say when or how this is going to happen, and that is okay. In fact, I think it is better, because we should be living our lives the very best we can. We should be living our lives following Jesus' examples, and that is the best way to spend our waiting time. We need to be feeding the hungry, fighting against injustice, turning over tables, and spending time with the "outcasts". This is the work of a missionary and what we are all being called to in some way. And you don't need to cross an ocean to do it. There are needs in every country and community. People need to be visited in prison. People need to be kept warm and cared for in a multitude of ways. I am fortunate that I get to do this every day in a very literal way when I work with women transitioning out of prison, and helping churches further their social action. I am thankful that I have this particular opportunity follow Jesus' example and teaching in this waiting time. Because we must be leading by example. This is our preparation.