Waiting for all of us is like the birth pangs to a birth that's more glorious than we even have the faith to pray for.

Waiting should not be fertilizer for disappointment for those of us who are in Christ.

Right.

The divine delay of Elizabeth's miracle was divine confirmation for Mary's.

And I think there are times that we forget that the waiting season isn't just about us.

That's right.

It's about what God is working in our communities, in our friendship groups, and the places that we work.

And sometimes the delay when it is finally fulfilled.

Others can say, oh my goodness, your delayed miracle is divine confirmation of mine as it was.

Hey, hey, back porchers. My name is Allison Allen. I am the 5'12 spiritual wingwoman to Lisa Harper for Back Porch Theology, and we are coming to you live from Caleb in Franklin, Tennessee.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ladies and gentlemen.

It's fun to be home.

It's fun to be home. Merry Christmas, my friends. Merry Christmas. Right back at you. Yeah, we've spent what? How many days on the bus? You know, I think the days just turned into weeks when you're on the bus. It feels like we've been on the bus for a month, but it's been fun. It's been fun. It's been fabulous. Rolling youth group. You know, just you, we've slept

maybe two hours a night and it's been worth it. We've done charades. We've watched Christmas movies.

We've eaten bad food and all the things. Terrible food. But to be in that close proximity,

we talk oftentimes on the podcast about how the body of Christ is not a metaphor.

It's what we're supposed to experience. And I think we live in a culture where we've lost a lot of

eye contact, everybody's looking at their phones, looking at their watches. And it was really

sweet to have that intentional community all those days. I've loved being with you and Dr. Howard and the rest of

the team. Same, same, same. I want to jump into Christmas. Okay. And we can approach Christmas in so

many ways, but tonight I want us to talk about the waiting of Christmas. W-A-I-T-A-I-T. Yes. You know,

Tom Petty says the waiting is the hardest part. Look at you getting in a Tom Petty. Yes, yes. We have some Tom Petty fans out there. Five of you. They're the over-50 crowd. That's right, that's right. But we think of the joy and the celebration, the joviality, but we often don't talk about the long weight.

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