Maranatha, Christ Come Quickly!

It's almost as if our anxiety about waiting hit a plateau once we received our approval from the ministry. Our file has been in South Africa for over a month and although it occasionally "flits" across our minds -- sometimes with an unexpected phone call (could that be our Social worker with our referral), most of the time we are relaxed about waiting. We know Robyn, our South African social worker, is on Christmas holidays and that she will have a backlog once she resumes her work in January so we know we won't hear anytime soon. It has been good to be busy with other activities.

We have been busy preparing for Christmas celebrations -- we've baked krentebrood, a family tradition passed down from my Opa who was a baker in Holland, we've also baked speculaas and made chocolate bark with a friend. We've bought and wrapped presents, and each night we light an advent candle with our girls and read a different Bible passage leading up to Christ's birth. Our anticipation for the arrival of our new baby is mirrored in the wait for Christ's birthday and indeed Christ's return.

When I read and reflect on all the suffering of this world, the groaning of creation, this week amplified by the climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, the suffering in Afghanistan, Iraq, most of Africa, Honduras, and even the total depravity that I see in my children, so young and "innocent" until they are screaming at each other over who gets which coloured cup at snack time. We need a Saviour. I need a Saviour.

Yesterday I finally finished reading "The New History of South Africa". It was a challenging read, especially since I knew very little about South Africa when I began (I even drew a map of the different provinces and major cities to help me out). It was also challenging in other ways. So much suffering was endured throughout the centuries by so many people. "Some of the cruellest episodes in South African history -- the extermination of the San, the subjugation of the Xhosa and their national suicide, the suffering of migrant workers on the mines and the deaths of women and children in concentration camps during the South African War. During the 1930s the slums in the South African cities were among the worst in the world. Apartheid destroyed many tight communities and closed off career chances." And although the peoples of South Africa are "joining forces to attempt, against considerable odds, to forge a new nation from the bottom up...and are beginning to sing new songs and tell different stories in a fresh identification with their land, people and culture" there is still incredible suffering and inequality and progress is painfully slow (p, 437). What South Africa really needs, and Canada too, and the whole of creation, is the return of Christ. When all things will be made new and there will be no more crying or pain...Maranatha, Christ come quickly.