In our next village there is an old phone box – and apparently various groups in that village are responsible for filling it with items of interest.

Usually these are things pertaining to the particular season that we are in – and as we are in the season of Advent – whoever is responsible has placed a figure (obviously meant to depict Mary) with two large signs in the window next to her. The signs read – ‘Mary is waiting’ – and – ‘we are waiting’ – referring of course to the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus – when Mary waits for his birth – and of course – “Advent – is – Waiting in Hope”

The season of Advent is celebrated widely by the church – yet – as we look beyond – and turn to our own present day – I love this quote – referring to advent – “It is the wonderful task of Advent to awaken us all to memories of goodness – and thus open the door of hope”.

On seeing those ‘signs’ – I was reminded of how much of our lives we spend – ‘waiting’ – and recognising how different those times of waiting can be.

Some are full of joyful anticipation – as we wait for things we have longed for – and we are filled with excitement – and I simply love this picture I came across – it says it all – “So excited – I can’t wait”

Some times of waiting are however – times of difficulty – times that we wish would come to an end – and so we wait – and that ‘waiting’ – can be the hardest thing of all.

As I thought on these things – remembering so many times of ‘waiting’ that have occurred in my own life – I can see how important my ‘posture’ – or – attitude – can be.

As this quote puts it – “Patience is not the ability to wait – but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting”

My attitude to life as a whole is the important thing – for how I approach each day – as I wait – for whatever life next holds for me – can make all the difference.

Faith has always been important to me – that spiritual connection means so much – and I love how someone once put it – “Our spiritual life - is a life in which we wait – actively present in the moment – expecting that new things will happen to us – new things that are far beyond our own imagination or prediction – this indeed is a very radical stance towards life in a world preoccupied with control”

And so – this advent – I wait – while being ‘actively present in the now’ – I remain expectant for new things – and seek to stay aware of how important my attitude is – in whatever season of waiting I am in.

Blessings Lois