For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.

Psalm 62:1

Until just recently, porch pumpkins and Christmas cheer coexisted on our front porch. Unlike most of my neighbors and friends, I do not rush into the Christmas season. I like to ease into the idea, not unlike savoring the last of the Thanksgiving stuffing and gravy.

This is how I’ve always done things, so this pause didn’t really strike me until a few days after Thanksgiving when I was driving north. The only traffic jam was the line getting off the freeway on the way to the designer outlet mall. What could be better than a $200 purse marked down to $175!

It seems that once people put down their forks on Thanksgiving, the rush is on to accumulate as much as they can as fast as they can and at a reduced price. The lights go up, the tree is decorated. Voila! It’s Christmas.

As I drove along, I found myself soaking in the fall colors (still evident in my part of California), the rust-hued vineyards, plump cows happily grazing on grass rejuvenated by recent rain. I considered whether the orchard off to the right was walnuts or almonds. I breathed it all in with thanksgiving. Christmas could wait.

For followers of Jesus Christ, Christmas is as much about anticipation, waiting on God’s arrival as it is about anything else. Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, derives from a Latin word for coming. Christians from many backgrounds celebrate this as a time to reflect on hope, peace, love and joy embodied in Jesus.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. 

Psalm 27:14

I still do all the customary things for Christmas — cards, gifts, decorations.  But I try to do so as I delight in the waiting and make sure there is lots of room in my life for this newborn king.