'hope-ing' {not to be confused with hopping}

this morning there was not even an inch of snow on the ground but it got my {almost} three year old so excited. he kept saying, 'it's almost Christmastime mommy, because there's snow.' by he kept saying it, i mean he incessantly repeated it all morning. and yes, it was cute the first time and the time right before i put him in his bed for nap. (insert smirk here.)

this boy of mine is so excited for christmas. he talks about it. and asks questions about it like: who will be here? where it will take place? where is santa gonna be? and the list goes on....

but see here's the thing... he's 'hope-ing' for something.

so today when we were in the car and he was brought to crocodile tears about the fact that christmas wasn't here yet, i said to him, 'it's hard to wait, huh?!' and with giant crocodile tears and red smudgy eyes he looked back at me and nodded yes.

as i thought about it hope-ing and waiting go hand in hand.

you hope to find the man/woman of your dreams, then once you find him or her you can't wait for the wedding.

you hope to have a baby, then once you get pregnant you wait 9 long months to meet him or her.

you hope for a trial to come to an end, for the pain to be over, but you have to wait until healing happens and the consequences have come to an end (usually an unknown time line.)

you hope for good news from a doctor, you wait for the phone call and then wait to see how the 'prescription' (s)he suggests pans out in reality.

or like my three year old son you hope for your buzz lightyear, and he waits for {what seems to him an eternity} christmas til he gets to open it.

yesterday, in my bible reading I came to psalm 33. here's verses 20-22:

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord be upon us, even as we hope in you!" Psalm 33:20-22

and that's where this whole thing made sense... the verse shows us the process: we wait in Him and in the meantime we Hope in Christ {and not as much in the thing we were waiting for in the first place}

because like we all know in the process of hope-ing and waiting is the refinement. becoming more like Christ than I was before so that I am ready and can handle what i think i need/want/must have or what in all actuality usually turns into what he thinks i need which is ultimately so much better.

the other day, i was awake before my kids (this doesn't happen often folks:)) and so i decided to sit up in my warm, cozy bed to read my bible.... to prepare for their arrival. wink. as i got out a journal that i had tucked in my nightstand i opened it up to find a prayer that i had written out the january that Carter was delivered. Re-reading these prayers brought back the emotions of waiting and hope-ing and not knowing all that was going to come with this new baby but there was so much anticipation in it all. (and at that i laughed and thought, wow, i had no idea all that goes into having a child...haha... still laughing.:))

in all seriousness there is much more excitement in Christmas than carter just opening buzz lightyear, i am trying to teach him to hope in Jesus Christ. That there was this humble little baby that was born on Christmas Day that came to die on the cross for our sin. That's the big hope, the unfailing hope.... a hope that we wait to celebrate (without fail) every year.

let's hope and wait in Jesus... for Christmas & for the other things on our heart.
He never disappoints.
hope-ing & waiting too,
kg