What in Your Life Has Been Worth the Wait?

Happy/Merry/Blessed whatever holiday you celebrate. And isn’t celebration a wonderful thing? It’s life-giving, soul-nurturing, and just plain fun. I hope you have many reasons to celebrate this year. Here are two reasons we’re celebrating: Paulina and Eleanor.

After waiting for many years our twin granddaughters, these two bundles of absolute joy, arrived in September. Their personalities are as different as their looks. Paulina has FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and wants to see everything. Eleanor is very social concentrates on you while you talk to her. They were very worth waiting for. My heart.

Another reason I’m feeling in a celebratory mood is that my first children’s book, The Go to Sleep Tree, will be released in early 2022. Publication date to be announced. This is Sam.

Sam has trouble going to sleep because he has so many “wide-awake worries.” When Mother comes to tuck him in, they discover a way for Sam to deal with his worries so he can fall asleep. My illustrator is Meghan Melotik, and the minute she sent me this sample illustration, I knew she was the artist to help bring my story to life.

This book is a dream come true for me, literally. When I was an educator (during my stint as the media specialist in the school library), I had a dream about the theme of this story. When I told my parapro about it, she said, “That sounds like a children’s book.” That and the fact that as a child, I had the same fear as Sam were the seeds of The Go to Sleep Tree.

Both of these causes, for celebration, the twins and The Go to Sleep Tree took years to arrive. Waiting is hard. But some things are worth the wait.

In my faith expression, we celebrate Advent, the four weeks before Christmas. It’s a time of prayer, longing, and expectation leading to the celebration of the birth of Jesus and the longing for the presence of the Cosmic Christ.

As a kid, Advent was the toughest time of the year, and Advent calendars heightened the anticipation even more. Waiting for all those presents!! But the wait made the Christmas gifts sweeter. Nowadays they have beer and wine Advent calendars for adults, which probably makes the time go by faster.

Another long-awaited reason for celebration is the revision of my first novel, Love’s Destiny. I’m not going to lie—this book seems to take a long time in every phase. My original manuscript took thirty years from the first word to publication. I sure hope these revisions don’t take that long!!

I must admit, I’m falling in love with my hero in LD all over again. Jonathon Brentwood *swoon*. A swashbuckling sea captain ala Errol Flynn only taller. Those of you younger than Boomer ask your parents or grandparents who Errol Flynn was.

Other things worth waiting for: Christmas cookies fresh from the oven. Giving a present that you know is perfect for the person and waiting for the look on his/her/their face when they open it. The first snow (for those of us in the northern part of the northern hemisphere). Christmas movies. Gathering with friends and family. A Charlie Brown Christmas on TV. Having all the decorations up, especially lights on the tree.

What has arrived lately that you’re thankful for? I’d be thankful if you’d share it in the comments.

Warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season.