On Waiting and Expecting

On the first Sunday of Advent our pastor, Monsignor Dan, compared Advent to pregnancy. He said it's a joyful anticipation for what's to come. I imagine that's true for most couples. But not so much for us. It took us a long time to get pregnant, and then it wasn't an easy pregnancy so it was full of anxiety and fear.

Now we are on the amazing road of adoption. We feel the Lord has called us on this journey. But like many stories of people in Scripture, we are compelled to wait. We long to be connected with our next child and birth family. So we wait.

Today we read Fr. Robert Barron's Advent reflection, and it gave us hope. He talked about how Abraham received a promise from God that, despite his old age, he would have a son. But then he had to wait. 

A long time.

Like us. 

Did he ever question that he heard God wrong? Did his faith ever waver? Probably. But he waited, and in time the promise came true.

"The season of Advent reminds us that God sometimes completes his will only after a long period of time. So, like Abraham, we wait."

Please pray for us while we wait.

Fundazeering

My uncle’s family coined the term, fundazeering. It’s the excitement of planning and anticipating an upcoming vacation. We feel it every. time.

In fact, we relish it. Almost as much as the vacation itself. And sometimes it’s even better than the actual vacation because you can dream the perfect vacation but we all know everything often doesn’t go as planned in real life.

Advent is pretty similar to Fundazeering. Advent brings out the sense of waiting, expecting, hoping and anticipating. And then I started to realize that our whole earthly existence is characterized by these attitudes.

We want such and such toy, a new electronic gadget, to meet the “one” man/woman, to have a perfect wedding, to have a child, to get a new, bigger car, to have a memorable vacation. The list goes on and on.

But we all know that nothing ever really satisfies us. We always want more. No matter how much we love, we want greater love. No matter how many beautiful places we’ve seen, we imagine there are even more beautiful places.

Often during Advent we get caught up in the fundazeering. Wish lists, visiting Santa, baking cookies, decorating, wrapping, shop here, visit there, did you bring the appetizer? They are all good things. Fun, memorable things. But they never truly satisfy us.

“O come, O come, Emmanuel”

May your Advent be marked by a true sense of hope in Jesus.