anticipation

““Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.” Jeremiah 23:5 (NKJV)

Last evening our ladies in the church gathered for a Cookie and Conversation event. It was a relaxing time together and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.

I gave the devotion using the empty boxes that I wrap and put around our ‘fancy’ Christmas tree in the living room of our home. After the devotion a couple of women commented (not seriously), “I thought we were going to get presents.” We all laughed. I told them they were welcome to the empty boxes.

As I sat this morning thinking of last night it occurred to me that we all become children in this season to an extent. Yes, there is the stress and hassle of getting things done and accomplished, scratching things off a list, adding more things to the list, visiting people and so on and so forth.

But secretly, deep down, when we see a person we know holding a gift and walking towards us, don’t we get a certain twinge of excitement? Is it for me? I wonder what’s in there? Those thoughts before the dreaded thought of “oh no! I don’t have anything for them” appear.

This is a season of hope and excitement even if there is no tree, no gifts, no lights, no cookies. Residing deep within this season is a gift of hope and expectation. A season where we anticipate.

Personally, I think that gift of hope is a annual gift from our Lord. The year is ending, a new one approaching. This year, to be honest may have sucked. Big. Time. But there is hope. A new, fresh year is coming in a couple of weeks. Anticipation. Hope. Excitement.

A New Year with possibilities. Things may be different. Things may be the same, but, you have survived this year. “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—my Savior and ⁶my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you—” Psalm 42:5-6a (NLT)

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.” Psalm 127:3-4 (NLT)

Both of my daughters are gifts from God. Doctors told me early in my marriage that children may not be possible for me. They forgot to tell God.

I love my daughters and know they are precious presents from my heavenly Father. They have both grown, married and are busy raising their own precious gifts.

My oldest daughter and her family are coming to visit this week, thus the title for this post.

Anticipation is a wonderful thing. It is like hearing the ice-cream truck on the next block and running to get money for when it finally appears on your street. It is like Christmas Eve when you see the tree loaded with wrapped presents underneath. It is like going to bed the night before school lets outs. Anticipation comes in many forms. It is always accompanied by those butterflies in your stomach that something good is about to happen.

Yes, I have anticipation. It will only increase until I see their vehicle pull into our driveway and a seven year old pops out. It will be fulfilled when those seven year old arms are wrapped around me and I hear “Grammy!” coming out of her mouth.

After about ten minutes of talking with my granddaughter and petting the dogs that I will turn to my daughter and her husband and welcome them to our home. Then the fun will truly begin.

Tag: anticipation

Maybe… just Maybe