Wishing the Year Away and the Gift of the Advent Season

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By Ida Williams

 

Let’s face it: we all wish time away.  Our commute to work, our mundane tasks, meetings, waiting for the dishwasher repairman—which is what I am doing as I write this.  We wish away times we have to wait.  I have been wishing the year away.

On November 4, my father passed away.  His illness and suffering had been long.  He had spent his last six and a half years living in a nursing home.  His being a double amputee made it impossible for any of us in my family to provide the care he required.  My mother went to the nursing home every day to be with him.  During COVID she visited him through his window.  I visited him weekly, spending less and less time during each visit as his health continued to decline and he no longer knew who I was.  When he passed, there was a sense of relief.  The wait was over, and his healing could begin.


The only scars in Heaven, they won't belong to me and you
There'll be no such thing as broken, and all the old will be made new
And the thought that makes me smile now, even as the tears fall down
Is that the only scars in Heaven are on the hands that hold you now

The Only Scars in Heaven – Casting Crowns
https://youtu.be/BCc7TCmKcwQ?si=JPzDsKImKIvyNxb1
Songwriters: John Mark Hall / Matthew Joseph West

The wait was over… but the wishing remains.

For some, Advent means fun, festive calendars with hidden treats, or marking the days to Christmas with time-honored traditions.  I love time-honored traditions and sweet treats, but this year, Advent feels different to me.  I have a longing for something greater to come.

The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.  ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Advent is a time of waiting and preparing for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the expected return of Christ at the Second Coming. 

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.

Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus – Red Mountain Music
Songwriters: Charles Wesley / R. H. Pritchard / Tom Howard


This Advent season I will focus on the following themes so I will not wish away the waiting.

Hope - I hope for an end to turmoil, both internal and external, domestic and abroad.

Isaiah 9:5-6 NSRV

Peace - I pray for peace that comes with knowing we are cared for, that the Savior will hold us fast.

Isaiah 40:10-11 NIV

Joy - I will be joyful in knowing that the Lord still is and was and is to come.

Luke 2:8-12 MSG

Love - I will live my God-given purpose to love Him and to love others as He loves me.

John 3:16-17 MEV

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice!  Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to the, O Israel.

Composers: Thomas Helmore / Adrian Peacock

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