On Sunday, the pastor at my daughter’s church – Aldersgate UMC in Abilene – spoke of actively waiting. Actually, the term Steve used was “wait and prepare” and he took it from Luke 2  when old Simeon decided not to die until he’d seen the promised Messiah. He didn’t sit in his Lazy-boy  twiddling his thumbs, though. Instead, he went to the temple. Now we know Simeon was IN Jerusalem and he was a Jew, so it wasn’t a long-haul trip or out of the ordinary for him to go to the temple. He just did his regular thing while waiting. The pay-off was huge; Simeon got to hold our Lord in his arms!

The last week and a half, that’s where I’ve found myself: waiting. I’m not alone though. A whole team of us are huddled around my daughter and son-in-love, looking forward to the birth of their son, my first grandchild. He’s the first on many fronts, actually. First grand on both sides and first great-grand. And so that I don’t drive my daughter and her husband completely nuts, we’ve worked on several projects inside and outside their home. (I gave the how-to on a nearly-free exterior coffee table we made on GardenDishes this week.) Lots of good food, a few movies, and some Christmas shopping (I’m crazy about the local olive oil heaven, Cordell’s, because their oils are a FODMAP FRIENDLY salve for my garlic and onion cravings).

Hey, want to see a few things we’ve done as we actively wait?

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NEED A RECIPE? JUST ASK!

I hate to wait, but doing it actively has given me purpose for being here and – hopefully – made my stay more bearable for my daughter and her husband. And I know the pay-off will be huge!

May your advent season be filled with the joy of the Lord. c: