by Jill Williamson
As writers, we’re always waiting for something. Putting in time to finish that book and hone our craft. Waiting for our critique partners to read our book. Waiting for a conference where we’ll get a chance to pitch our project. Waiting for our turn to meet with editors and agents. Waiting to get home and prepare the submission that agent requested. And once we’ve sent it off, waiting and waiting and waiting to hear back.
And once we’ve published a book, the waiting doesn’t end. We begin to wait for other things. Contracts. Book covers. Edits. Deadlines. Proofs. Advances. Release days. Royalty statements. Book reviews. Contest announcements.
We’re always waiting for something.
Each year, when I help decorate our church for Christmas, we set out the Advent candle stand to commemorate the coming of Christ into the world. December is always a month of eager anticipation in my family. We decorate the house, we buy presents, we plan parties and church services and talk with family about who is going where this year. We even wait for the first snow.
I look forward to Christmas Day with my family. But I also enjoy everything that leads up to it. It sometimes gets a little busy, but it’s all part of the fun. Waiting for Christmas is a hopeful, joyful time of waiting. I can wait respectably for Christmas.
But when it comes to waiting for God’s will to unfold in my life, I’m often impatient and negative. My first instinct is to doubt it will ever happen. I’m anxious, frustrated, frenzied, angry, and sometimes despairing.
This is also true for the writing world. How do I wait for something I can’t write in on my calendar? I don’t want to wait. I want to know now. What’s taking so long? Why can’t I get a simple answer? And why do I feel so insecure about my new story? What if people hate it? What if I fail?
Well, the season of Advent has ended for many of us, and Christmas Day has come and gone again. The new year just around the corner. But none of us really know what this year will bring. Life happens. But if I were to know that God will deliver on his promises with the same certainty that I know Christmas will come each year, what would that look like?
How well do you wait? Are you joyful and expectant or fearful and despairing?
“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” -Psalm 130: 5-6
Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens, loves Jesus, and is a recovering fashion design assistant, who was raised in Alaska. Visit Jill at www.jillwilliamson.com, where adventure comes to life.