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Waiting

By Liz Wiskowski

      As we wait for the birth of Jesus, the thought occurred to me, how much of our time is spent waiting. We wait for our children to be born, we wait for them to come home from school, we wait for everyone to gather for dinner, we wait in line at the supermarket, we wait at red lights and for a train to pass. There are waiting rooms in doctor’s offices. Some of the hardest waiting is when we are waiting for God to answer our prayers of petition.

      In our fast paced world, we want instant gratification. When we have to wait we become anxious, angry, impatient.

      Every minute, every hour is a gift from God. Use those waiting moments to say a little prayer for someone who is ill, or who is jobless, or for someone who has hurt you. I find this calms me down almost immediately, and it is teaching me the virtue of patience.

      The bible is full of people who know how to wait. Moses, Abraham, Mary the mother of Jesus, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Simeon to name a few. St. Monica prayed for 30 or 40 years for her son St. Augustine, and they are both saints!

        Let us take a lesson from them and patiently pray and wait for God to work in us and those we love. Use those waiting moments wisely. Practice doing this during the last few days of Advent and it will become a habit. Try it-you’ll like it!