Joyful Expectancy

This morning there was a joyous scramble for the pieces of our advent calendar.  Ours is magnetic and each day until the 25th a piece of the nativity scene will appear on the fridge.  The youngest always has his turn first and he carefully placed the first piece, an outline of the stable.  The other pieces and figures were lovingly spread out and talked about.  The little one can't wait to add her favourite angel, she's counted out the days and she knows she'll be the one to place it.

Anticipation.  It's everywhere.  The waiting and the hoping.  It's active, not passive.  There's an alertness to the waiting.  There's no lethargy or hopelessness.  Everyone knows that it's coming--we're just waiting.

All yearning for that which is promised and coming...

Kids can't wait to open gifts, adults can't wait for days off, families can't wait to gather...and it's all a faint reflection of the great inborn longing for the coming of promised freedom.

We received the down payment on the promise when the Son of God came and lived clothed in human flesh.  We see the promise birthed in our hearts as a hope and a love far greater than what we could conjure on our own.  We wait to see the fullness of peace on earth and in every heart...and so we wait for the advent, the coming...

These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance.

That is why waiting does not diminish us, 

any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. 

We are enlarged in the waiting. 

We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us.

But the longer we wait, the larger we become, 
and the more joyful our expectancy.

Romans 8:23-25 MSG