Waiting for Christmas

Everyone is waiting for something or someone. We all carry around with us anticipation for some future time, event, or change in circumstances--the next job, "when I'm married," the next move, relief from current pain, a change in weather, the next holiday or vacation, etc. We are waiting beings, aren't we? Always in a state of holding with the thought of what comes next. What we wait for is directly correlated to what we hope in. As you wait for that next job, you do so in hope that it will bring you greater joy and fulfillment than the one you have. As you wait for the next stage of life, you do so with the earnest expectation that it will be different, or better, than the one you're in. Thus, we must be careful for that which we wait.

As I have studied the theme of hope this past year, I am convinced that hope is synonymous with waiting on the Lord. The Psalms are full of waiting and hoping.

I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. (Psalm 130:5)

My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. (Psalm 62:5)

That in which you place your hope is that which you long for, prepare for, make room for, listen for, look for, watch for, pray for.  As a young girl, I remember longing for that time when my older sister would return from boarding school or college. I knew she would return and I was fixated on that promise. The house was picked up, I cleaned my room (under orders from Mom, I'm sure), but I never just sat around and waited, for I knew the time would pass all the quicker if I kept busy doing something. Yet, even if I simply picked up a book to pass the time, it was always with a burning sense of waiting for the promise and expectation of her arrival to be fulfilled.

Advent is a season of waiting--anticipating, hoping, and longing for the arrival of the Messiah. At Christmas we celebrate this waiting by reflecting on the miracle of the God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, coming to earth in human form. As we wait to celebrate, we reflect and marvel at the promises He perfectly fulfills. All throughout Scripture people are waiting on the Lord and His arrival.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. (Luke 2:25) 

And there was a prophetess, Anna. . . . and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38)

What joy it must have been to actually see the fulfillment of their lifetime of waiting and hoping!

As Christians, we are in a second season of advent--waiting for Christ's return--anticipating and preparing for that day in joy and urgency. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his advent book God is in the Manger, spends the first week focusing on the theme of waiting and inspired this reflection. He writes, "The Advent season is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, that is, a season of waiting for the last Advent, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth" (2). Christ is returning! The King is coming! Are you ready?

As human beings created in the image of God, we are made with a default mode to hope in/wait for someone. No exception. "For the greatest, most profound, tenderest things in the world, we must wait" (Bonhoeffer 4). I urge you to consider: Who (or what) are you waiting for? Who are you making room for? Christ is the only perfect fulfillment--make room this Christmas for Him!

"Not everyone can wait: neither the sated nor the satisfied nor those without respect can wait. The only ones who can wait are people who carry restlessness around with them and people who look up with reverence to the greatest in the world. Thus Advent can be celebrated only by those whose souls give them no peace, who know that they are poor and incomplete, and who sense something of the greatness that is supposed to come, before which they can only bow in humble timidity, waiting until he inclines himself toward us--the Holy One himself, God in the child in the manger. God is coming; the Lord Jesus is coming; Christmas is coming. Rejoice, O Christendom!" (Bonhoeffer 6).

How are you waiting for Christmas this year?

NYC 1.5 (part 2)

A week ago Tuesday, Erika and I groggily rolled out of bed somewhere between 5 and 5:30 a.m. After showers and a scrumptious breakfast at our hotel, we felt rejuvenated and were back in the city by 7:30.

Stop 1: Times Square for Good Morning America. Unfortunately, they were filming upstairs that particular morning, but we did get to see Ginger, the meteorologist. Erika and I were pretty excited!!! (Confession: I had no idea who she was until Erika told me. I had to google her name.)

 We were so close!!!

One thing I really wanted to do was buy coffee from a New York food cart. On the way to our next stop I got my wish and the coffee wasn't half bad!

 
Stop 2: The Today Show. This is where Shorty and I made our national TV debut. (We kindly request that you refrain from asking us for autographs at this time, as we would like to keep a low profile. Thank-you, Kyle, for capturing it on camera!)

On the way to and from The Today Show, I ran into Jimmy Fallon...or at least a poster of him. I have no shame in admitting that seeing the NBC Studios building where his show is filmed was one of the highlights!

Stop 3: Rockefeller Center.

Stop 4: Flat-Iron District.

Stop 5: The World Trade Center Memorial. It was very sobering.

Stop 6: Freedom Tower. This is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and Erika and I decided to conquer our fear of heights and go to the very top--the 102nd floor.

The elevator was incredibly fast and the view was breath-taking. 

 New Jersey!

After spending a bit of time in the Freedom Tower, it was about noon, so we went to a little French disctrict/market for lunch. Of course we also needed some good coffee to spur us on for the afternoon. Erika and I agree that the coffee was amazing! We sipped on it as we walked a bit around Battery Park.

 Do you see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance?

Once again, the Lord had graciously blessed us with gorgeous sunshine weather.

Stop 7: Statue of Liberty. It was quite impressive. We took a ferry to the island, which was fun.

 Did you know Gustave Eiffel (who designed the Eiffel Tower) played a role in the design of Lady Liberty? Also, do you know why she is green? No? Ask Erika, she'll tell you all about it! :) 

 Walking around the island provided a great view of the city skyline. 

Stop 8: Ellis Island. Truly fascinating. This is one place I want to go back to and spend more time on.

12 million immigrants entered the U.S. through that island--all going through this building and several hours worth of questions, inspections, and waiting...including my great-grandma on my dad's side. To be in that exact room was special.

Where my people came from! :)

Stop 9: the Brooklyn Bridge. Though our feet and legs were already pretty sore, Erika willingly walked up with me to see the bridge. Built in 1883, it is one, if not the, oldest cable-suspension bridge in the country! Although the engineering is truly impressive, all I could think about was Spot Conlon--the tough sling-shot boy from Brooklyn and my favorite character in Newsies. (I was humming Newsies songs all day.)

Stop 10: the Majestic Theatre for the Broadway performance of The Phantom of the Opera. Ever since I was a little girl, it has been on my bucket list to see a Broadway musical. I was in no way disappointed. The orchestra was spectacular (pun intended) in and of itself. Mesmerizing music, unbelievable vocal and theatrical talent on stage, the entire production was extraordinary and I'm ready to go back!

 I remember studying the history of Broadway musicals in college and finding it fascinating. 

 Can you see Erika in the reflection? 

I think it was close to 11 when we fell into our beds utterly exhausted. What a fabulous day it had been!

Random Photo Alert: Don't the buildings look like they are glued together? (Still no sign of Spiderman...)

By the way, the drive through Pennsylvania and New Jersey was lovely. The Ohio River is pictured below. (The Underground Railroad, anyone?!)

Thanks for being a great tour guide, Shorty!!!

NYC 1.5 (part 1)

Over spring break this past week, I flew out to Pittsburgh ("Hellloooooo, Pittsburrrrrggggghhh!" Ando, that's for you. Can anyone else name that movie?) to visit Erika and Kyle in their new home. During that time, Shorty and I made plans to road-trip to NYC. Because, why not? We passed the time in the car by re-living our childhood and singing along to High School Musical and Hillary Duff.

We arrived mid-afternoon in New Jersey, checked into our hotel, and headed for the city. We were pretty stoked! We had 1.5 days to see as much as we possibly could and we were READY!

When we stepped out of our bus stop, I saw this. Whoah. How does one get to be a journalist with the New York Times? Takes more intelligence and political savvy than I can claim, that's for sure.

Our first official stop was Central Park, and we passed the Museum of Natural History on the way.

Central Park, with the leftovers of winter snow melting and the spring sun shining, was gorgeous!

Walking through Central Park  made me want to burst into song and dance, but we had no time for that! We had a tight schedule and were off for Park Avenue.

As we walked by these buildings, I told Erika they reminded me of the ones in Paris. Sure enough, the little plaque on the wall said they were inspired by French Renaissance architecture. #proudfrenchteachermoment

These buildings, however...not so much...

 

 
Our next metro subway (do Americans say metro?) stop took us to Grand Central Station. (By the way, Erika was Miss Navigator, having been to NYC a couple of times before. She did an amazing job! #shoutouttoshorty )

We were on our way to Times Square when we passed the Sofitel!!!!! Shorty and I both got excited, as it was the hotel our family would stay in for vacation when we lived in Ouaga. I'll be honest, I had no idea they existed in New York.

As we walked, I couldn't help glancing up, hoping to see Spiderman.

Finally, we arrived in Times Square!

Still no Spiderman...

Right by Times Square is the M&M Store. I absolutely love m&m's. This place had walls of various colors and flavors! Fun fact: did you know m&m's were initially made exclusively for the military, so that the soldiers' chocolate wouldn't melt? (Erika and I did some research on our way home on the history behind m&m's.)

We had one last stop before heading back to our hotel for the night: Macy's. But first, we needed something to eat. Erika helped herself to a traditional New York hotdog and claims it was quite good.

I chose the gyro sandwich--partly because after watching Jimmy Fallon and Luke Bryan's music video, I felt empowered to order the delicious sandwich with confidence in my pronunciation of it. Somehow, though, I still got it wrong. But the sandwich still tasted delicious!

Did the rest of you grow up watching Miracle on 34th Street every Christmas?

The old wooden escalators are pretty neat!

Once we had ridden the historic escalators and searched for the Christmas section that did not exist, we decided maybe it was time to head back to the hotel.

This is as close as we got to the Empire State Building.

We grabbed some coffee (merci Dad!), took the wrong bus back to the hotel (rookie mistake), but an hour later (and completely safe, Mom), we crashed into our beds anticipating our 5AM wake-up call.