🌲The Art of Waiting🌲
On deleting emails and appreciating the wait
Dear Reader,
I almost didn’t send this newsletter today. If you’re like me, you’re deleting emails by the bundle this week. If you’re reading this, thank you. I promise to not try to sell you a damn thing.
Since Thursday, my inbox has been filled with ads. “For one day only! “Save 20%!” “Don’t forget to grab it now—at a 30% discount!” “Final 12 hours for this deal of a lifetime!” We hadn’t even pulled the turkey out of the oven before the sale emails started rolling in.
Today, it’s filled with fundraising requests. “Matching gifts today only!” “Pay it forward, donate today!” And perhaps the most ironic that I’ve gotten so far, “In the spirit of giving, we’re offering free shipping on all purchases today only!”
And while many of the emails are for worthy products or causes, this plethora of ads in my inbox encourages me to spend out of a scarcity mindset. If I don’t buy it now, I will have to spend more later. It may sell out. I may miss out on the best deal of the century. “Don’t wait!” “Now’s the time!” “Treat yourself!”
But what if there’s a better way?
Advent began on Sunday. In the liturgical church, Advent is the beginning of the new year. It is time to start afresh, to turn our eyes on the joy we know is coming. But even the word Advent has been taken over by secular society. Walk in any store to find the latest, greatest “Advent Calendar” stuffed with your favorite wine, chocolate, or tiny buildable toys. Yet none of these calendars begin on the first day of Advent. They begin on December 1. These so-called “Advent calendars” are really nothing more than a countdown to Christmas. So why have they taken the name “Advent”?
This year I’m feeling this deep inner urging to push back on the hustle and bustle and lean into the gift that Advent has to offer. Like Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,
“Celebrating Advent means being able to wait.”
As the ads in my inbox portray, we have lost the beauty of waiting. With current technology, we can have whatever we want with just a simple click; almost instantly it appears. We don’t have to wait in long lines to purchase Christmas gifts or wrapping paper; simply click on the link in our email.
Don’t know what to buy someone? There’s a gift guide for that. Or even better, maybe there’s a wishlist where all you have to do is point and click.
Miss your family? Gone are the days when we would sit down with pen and paper and write a letter filling them in on all that’s happening in our lives. We don’t have to wait patiently for their reply to arrive in the mail. We open our phones, type in a few words, and hit send. Then we stare at the screen until the reply comes—constantly checking and rechecking to make sure we haven’t missed anything.
I so often feel the need to fill any amount of waiting time with productivity. What can I cross off my to-do list before the time is up? With five minutes here and there, I can read a few chapters or start a new essay. And in the rare times I’ve left the house without a book or a pen, I get bored with waiting. Surely there are better ways to spend my time than simply waiting.
But what if waiting is a gift?
Part of the beauty of the waiting time is the emptiness. The silence and stillness of having nothing to do and nowhere to go offers us moments of rest. Moments where we can choose to be in control of our time, rather than our time being in control of us.
Waiting in line at Starbucks gives us a chance to notice the people around us. The neighbor who hasn’t been out of her house in a while. The barista who looks frazzled and overwhelmed. The mother of a toddler who looks like she could use a break. The waiting gives us a chance to extend a gracious smile, open a door for someone with full hands, or simply say a silent prayer that they be showered with peace.
Saying no to the holiday sales offers us the opportunity to be intentional about the gifts we give. The waiting gives us a chance to think about the person we’re giving to and how to best share our love for them.
Waiting for our next farm pickup allows us to appreciate the food we received all summer, stored in our freezer and pantry for times such as this. The waiting offers an opportunity to be creative in the kitchen, and to be grateful for the farmers who feed us all year.
Turning off our devices while waiting for the show to start encourages us to talk with each other about what we are looking forward to. The waiting gives us moments of laughter, happiness, and memories of being together.
Waiting offers us a chance to slow down. She invites us to breathe deep and look forward to not only the joy that is coming, but the joy that is in the here and now.
If you still have leftover turkey, I highly recommend turning it into chili. Earlier this week, I made this Skillet Chili and added chopped turkey with some pinto beans I had in the fridge. I also threw in leftover Three Sisters Beans & Hominy. We ate the entire pot of chili. Leftovers be gone!
And if you’re finally out of turkey, how about a savory twist on breakfast for dinner? I made this Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Frittata with Roasted Potatoes and Winter Squash Pancakes and it may have been the best meal we had all month.
This Yellow Eye Bean and Fennel Casserole was one of the easiest meals I made in October. I halved it because I only had 2 cups of beans, so we had it alongside cooked spelt berries. It was beloved by every family member, and they fought over the half serving we had leftover for lunch the next day.
For the last several years, we’ve traveled during Advent and haven’t been able to really dig into a Advent devotion in its entirety. When we travel at Thanksgiving, we get caught up in the hecticness of holiday travel and miss out on the beginning of Advent. When we travel at Christmas, we aren’t in control of our space or our time; the waiting becomes filled with activity and excitement over spending every possible moment with family. I am thrilled that we will be home the entire Advent season this year and have pulled out my favorite books to help us lean into the waiting.
God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas is a compilation of excerpts from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christmas letters and sermons. I don’t have a ton of time each morning before I’m called into duty by little people, so I love the short length of these. I read a chapter (no more than two pages long) then write for 15 minutes. It’s really helping me reframe the wait.
Shadow & Light: A Journey Into Advent by Tsh Oxenreider is the family devotion I have always hoped for. With a short reading, a Bible passage, a song and a piece of art, it comprises all of my favorite things and gently guides us into the Christmas celebration.
A few years ago, I discovered All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings by Gayle Boss. If you’re looking for a guide that brings nature into your devotion time, this is it. My kids love hearing about the different animals and how they prepare for winter.
I introduced the Jesse tree to my kids several years ago through The Jesse Tree by Geraldine Mccaughrean. Written as a story told by a carpenter to a little boy, it’s a fantastic introduction to the Biblical stories that make up the Jesse tree. The artwork is also incredible.
Note: I promised I wouldn’t try to sell you a damn thing, and I highly encourage you to check your local library for these. If you do choose to buy them, I think you’ll use them for many years to come.
I love this free audio version of the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The first episode comes out Thursday and it’ll take you right up to Christmas.
I also compiled all my favorite Christmas songs into one huge playlist. This is quite an eclectic mix and is best played on shuffle. Enjoy!
Most early Lutheran churches in the U.S. continued the practice of delivering services in German. The 29 founders of St. John’s, many of whom were second or third generation German heritage Americans, wanted their church services in English.
~A church near and dear to my heart, St. John Lutheran in Knoxville has always been a church intentional about welcoming the outsider.
It’s what keeps us coming together in community, even through all the distractions on a Sunday morning, because our collective presence, however loud and clattering in our echoing spaces, is how we hold each other.
~My friend Rachel wrote this stunning essay about church and parenting and fire and prayer. I am brought to tears every single time I read it.
Now that she's been dead 10 years, my mother and I are finally starting to get along. She accompanies me on my trips to the supermarket. I sense her hovering nearby while I inspect the produce carefully, exactly as she taught. She hangs out with me in the kitchen, too.
~I can’t stop thinking about this gorgeous essay about how cooking connects us with our ancestors—even the ones we never had a great relationship with.
Yet, the only words I keep hearing are Charlotte’s, “It’s okay to be sad, Mama.”
~My friend Kim reminds us that sometimes the very words we need to hear come from a child’s mouth.
Could the key to feeding the world with a changing climate be hiding in a 300-year-old museum collection?
~I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how what we eat affects climate change. These scientists are too.
At the beginning of the month, I launched Insider News right here on Substack. I’ll be sharing a bi-monthly newsletter with an original essay and Five Quick Things that are delighting me on the newsletter off weeks. This month featured my Grandma’s Rich Hot Rolls, Five Things I Learned on Retreat, and Five Quick Gift Ideas (hint: some are homemade!)
On the blog, you can find A Magic Carpet Ride (what books and an electric blanket have in common), Where We Read in October (November’s is coming tomorrow!), and this amazing Delicata Squash Enchilada recipe (use what you have in the fridge).
Over on Instagram, I shared about trying something new, a tiny glimpse of my writing retreat, the miracle of flying home on standby, and what writing looks like now that I’m back home. And if you’re interested in learning more about the Jesse tree, you can follow our Advent journey.
May the God of Wonder enter your lives in this time of waiting. May you feel empowered to shorten your to-do lists and enjoy the peacefulness that comes with the gift of waiting. May your hearts be filled with the Holy Spirit as you anticipate the coming of greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ.
Until next month,
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“The mom with the toddler who looks like she needs a break” hi it’s me 🙋🏼♀️ at least that is how I feel I look when out and about. I do love this perspective - leaving my phone tucked in the stroller and looking around at the world around me instead of trying to entertain myself at a moments notice.
I also love that you pointed out the advent countdowns. I remember when those became popular in the last few years and thinking to myself “do people even know what advent is?”
I loved the perspective on waiting. Thanks for writing!