The Waiting

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 
Matthew 1:21

Capping off advent with a long Christmas vacation matches the heart of what advent celebrates: waiting. The Christ is coming. We wait. Deliverance is coming. We wait. Peace and joy are coming. We wait. And, for those working in academia, the long Christmas break is coming. We wait.

Then, when the last day arrives, when all the kids are decked in reindeer sweaters and the staff room is sugary-sweet with the cookies of a dozen generous moms, we celebrate the end of the waiting. We drive home looking forward to sixteen glorious days of sleeping in, eating pie for breakfast, ignoring our email, and curling up by the fire with library novels. Of course, if you happen to have a toddler, the "sleeping in" is somewhat relative. Nevertheless, vacation brings rest and by mid-December, we are ready for it.

This weekend already kicked off the celebrations as we joined Pete's family for Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Henry ate too many cookies, played all day with his cousins, and finally learned to say all of their names (though Charlotte is merely "Ha-ha"). We are on cloud nine with this December's Christmas break.

So as I'm celebrating the arrival of one thing waited-for, I'm encouraged to notice the things we're still waiting for. All of us. An end to violence and fear and danger. The dissolution of all countries and kingdoms. A time when money and paperwork and calendars are no longer needed. The day when our Lord fully and finally saves us from this whole sin-soaked world. A greeting with our Savior to pale all the Christmas greetings we've ever enjoyed. The 2015 advent season will soon be over. But we will still be waiting through the advent preceding his return.

We've welcomed the restfulness of Christmas break, and there are only four days of advent left until we celebrate Jesus's first coming. I think a long, sweet, cinnamony Christmas vacation is a little taste of the perfect rest that will come when the long, long second Advent of Christ is over, when He comes again. For that, we continue to wait expectantly.