The Lawson Family Shopping Day

I am 26 years old. I turn 27 on January 6th. I am almost thirty. Before I go jump off the roof, I thought I might amuse you with what I did today. My family, for as long as I can think of (That would be 26 years, 27 on January 6th) has gathered together the weekend before Christmas to take part in the Lawson Family Shopping Day at the Castleton Mall in Indianapolis. Just so you know, the Castleton Mall is where Santa actually works. All the others are just helpers, Santa actually works in Castleton.
On this wonderful day we get to the mall, gather together in front of the Lazarus Department Store, then split up, meet again, split up again, meet again, split up again, and finally go out to dinner. My memories of Christmas are surrounded with holly and ivy remembrances of the Lawson Family Shopping Day. I remember buying my sister a book called "How To Talk Your Way Out of a Speeding Ticket", buying presents for my dog, and each year of my childhood buying my mother a brand new Holly Hobby Calendar.
Now I'm 26, almost 27, almost 30... the very sound of the cutting syllables and sharp consonants of the word serrate through my life and make me wonder, "Shouldn't I have accomplished at least one thing by now? Shouldn't I know where am I going? What am I doing?"
Advent they say is a season of waiting and preparation. Engage with me your sacred imagination and imagine the lives of the people of Israel waiting for their Messiah. 400 years of waiting and expectation from the closing of the Old Testament Canon to the New. Years marked by searchin for national identity and the recovery of history. Years later, knowing as I do the fullness of Christ I too sit in waiting, wondering, probably like Israel did... "Have I missed all my chances?"