The Joy of Waiting

It is not easy to wait for anything when you are a six-month old puppy like me!

Advent is a time of waiting. It is an important four weeks for Christians as they prepare their hearts and homes and wait to celebrate Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ.

So I am learning to wait for Christmas, too. There is now a big tree in in my favorite corner of the living room where I love to take my naps. The tree is decorated with pretty bulbs and little lights. I'm not supposed to go near the tree, so I've got to wait until after Christmas when mom puts away the tree until I can take my naps in my favorite corner of the house.

Outside, there is a wonderful place in my yard that turns into a puddle of water whenever the sump pump goes off. I love slurping up the water that comes out of the sump pump hose! But now, because the weather here in Wisconsin is so very cold, the water turns into ice as soon as comes out. I've got to wait until the weather warms up before I can slurp up the water again.

The other day, when Mom and I were out walking, I discovered a dog toy. It is orange and black and filthy and torn up and full of dog slobber. Mom says it's a toy only a dog would love. I proudly carried that new dog toy with me for the remainder of our walk.

When we got close to our house, I took a little detour and went to my neighbor's house. In warm weather, my neighbor, Connie, likes to plant pretty flowers alongside her house. Now that it is cold outside, there are no flowers, just delicious dirt! So I went over by the dirt and, with the new dog toy hanging from my mouth, I promptly dug a nice hole in the dirt. The dirt felt cold, but it was still gooey and most importantly, very messy! I got dirt all over my paws and my face.

When the hole was dug, I gently placed that dog toy into the hole and then I used my nose to cover it up with more dirt. The dirt became a blanket to keep my new dog toy warm!

Then I sat down and looked at mom and said to her, "Now I've got to wait until springtime when Connie digs up her garden and discovers this dog toy! I can't wait until Connie finds it! It will be such a surprise!"

"Oh, it will be a great surprise!" Mom said.

That's the funny thing with waiting...at first it can be annoying, like having to find a new corner to take my naps or not being able to slurp up sump pump water when I want to, but then waiting can be very exciting because there can be many surprises that come along!

It's still not easy waiting for anything when you are a puppy. But this Advent, I am going to try to find the hidden blessings and surprises that times like Advent bring!

Thought for you humans:
How do you deal with waiting? Are you impatient? Are you calm enough to be open to new surprises?