Anticipation

Perhaps I’ve told this story before, but it’s a foundation for what’s on my mind today. When my siblings and I were young, we’d find out about an invitation to a party when Mother started to get us ready to go. She had already purchased the birthday gift, so all we had to do was get cleaned up and dressed in our party clothes. We were not allowed to anticipate the party. Why? Mother did not want to hear us ask (numerous times over): ‟When is it time to go?” As a mom myself, I can understand her reasoning. But anticipation is part of the fun. Don’t you agree?

Yesterday we anticipated the arrival of Chrissa and Leo from North Carolina. On Becky’s smartphone she saw text messages as to their ETA. This soon alerted us that their car broke down near Knoxville, TN. Bad news: transmission needed and costly. Good news: it had not happened while driving through the mountain range, but near a big city with a dealership. More good news: a car rental place ‟happened to be” across from the dealership. They decided to leave their car with the dealers until the return trip. A good rental car was made available for the rest of the journey to Indianapolis. Now they anticipate a decision whether to have the car fixed in Knoxville. Throughout their troubles, Leo decided not to get frustrated but to stay in control, to trust God for the answers. Their ‟detour” added about five hours to their trip and to our anticipation time.

Tomorrow our friends Bonnie and Mary Jo are coming here from Wilmore, Kentucky. We’ve not seen them since May 2015 when we attended Bill’s ATS Golden Grads celebration. We anticipate a good time together, playing catch-up on our lives’ journeys. We’ll also have the traditional chicken curry dinner on Monday.

The grandest anticipation happens during this season of Lent. We look forward to celebrating Good Friday, Palm Sunday, and Easter Sunday in our church and with our family. Yes, even the crucifixion of Christ is worthy of celebration. He died for us. Jesus suffered as the sacrifice for our sins, so that we may celebrate His salvation. And after that is the big rejoicing day: He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose! That’s something to anticipate each year. In fact, every Sunday.