I was just reading my brother's blog, and remembering how when we were kids, all of us (we have a younger sister and brother) would gather in our room and wait for our parents to get up before we could go out to see what we got for Christmas, and when we moved to our house in Pickerington, my brother and I had separate rooms, so we'd meet in his room because it was farthest from our parents' room, and wait for them to wake up.
Again, let me say that I think that there were times that our parents were awake and were enjoying the "torture" of us kids trying to decide who'd make the most "typical noise" so that they'd wake up.
But as much as we'd wait, there was that anticipation that came with the waiting. What did we get? Did we get something big or little? How much did we get?
To keep us from "cheating", there was a sheet hung at the end of the hall so that us kids couldn't see into the living room if we had to go to the bathroom or go to one another's rooms for something. Darn it. But that didn't mean that we weren't in the hallway, peaking around the corners, looking to see if there was any openings at the bottem of the sheet, and seeing if we could see anything down the hallway if there was. Back then, we'd give anything for x-ray vision or to be the Six Million Dollar Man with that Bionic Eye... But again, darn it!
Living in Pickerington, we were upstairs so there wasn't the need for the "sheet at the end of the hall". But I remember one Christmas, we realized that there was a gigantic mirror on the wall at the bottom of the stairs, and given the right angle, we could see into the living room - BONUS!! So like some sort of Special Rangers soldier, crawling across the floor, around the corner to peek down the stairs to see the mirror and.... a sheet was covering the mirror. DANG IT!!!
The "extra waiting and wondering" gave me time to wonder what the day would be like... What would happen when we go to our grandparents' houses? Will my parents like the gifts I got them? Etc Etc.
Life gives us lessons that are just like we're taught in the Bible, but maybe we don't know it, or it's not as obvious at the time. As we enter into the Advent season, preparing for the celebration of Jesus, we have the time to reflect on why we're celebrating. We can consider what the Season really is all about. We can consider everything we have and what other people don't have.
Waiting and wondering... How about reflecting and preparing?
Blessings!
