<DIV><DIV><b><i>Advent is about learning to love the waiting…</i></b></div><DIV>  </div><DIV>Waiting is the primary lesson of Advent, says Paula Gooder. In the company of the biblical characters with whom the candles on the Advent wreath are traditionally associated, she helps us to discover very different kinds of waiting:</div><DIV> </div><DIV>* Abraham and Sarah—who waited a lifetime for the fulfillment of God's promises.</div><DIV>* The Hebrew prophets—who waited for God's intervention, both longed for and feared.</div><DIV>* John the Baptist—whose ministry marked the end of one era and anticipated the new.</div><DIV>* Mary—whose life was shaped by waiting and by events beyond her control.</div><DIV> </div><DIV><i>The Meaning Is in the Waiting</i> is arranged for daily reading in the hectic run-up to Christmas. This thoughtful book will enable you to grow more fully into a way of being that is expectant rather than urgent, more focused on God's presence right now than on some imagined future. You will venture on this journey in companionship with the God who waits with us.</div></DIV>