
Today I will be making mince pies. I made the first batch last week and they are already gone. These are made with homemade mincemeat, a recipe handed down to me by my dear mum in law, and are so much better than anything you can buy in shops. It is one of the traditions we have continued in our family. For us, they are one of the ways we know Christmas is coming! And we have faith that they will taste good, because the recipe always delivers.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating with some dear friends, the imminent arrival of their firstborn child. Anyone who has expected a child knows what it feels like to wait, in anticipation and excitement, but also with a degree of uncertainty, and even fear perhaps. Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew this only too well.
WAITING WELL
Advent is about waiting. But how good are we at waiting? Not just for Christmas, or new babies, but for when the promise is yet to be fulfilled in our lives, or the prayer answered?
Very many of us know, or have known, what it means to wait – for a healing, for provision, for direction, to see a loved one come to the Father. The waiting isn’t always easy, but God is a God of promises and when we have a promise to hold on to, at least there is hope. Hope is a choice, and hope requires faith. Faith imagines the promise fulfilled and believes we will see it’s fulfilment.

Hebrews 11 tells stories of people of great faith. People who had their part to play in the story of Jesus’ coming. For Abraham and Sarah, David, and the Prophets, they never saw the fulfilment of ‘The Promise’ – the Messiah King (v39). But scripture tells us their faith never wavered, they died still believing.
FAITH IN THE PROMISE GIVER
Their faith was built on what they saw, heard, and experienced of the Promise Giver. They saw other promises fulfilled in their lives, they saw God do the miraculous, they saw answered prayer. These things built their faith.

So, like these heroes of old, our choice to believe has to be based on what we have seen, heard and experienced of the God who is ever faithful.
We need to remind ourselves of the promises we have seen fulfilled, the miracles we have witnessed or heard about, and the prayers we have seen answered. That will make the waiting far easier, as our faith is built, and our hope secured.
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Joy Margetts is new to blogging, and new to being published. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021. A work of historic fiction, set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, it is also a story of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Joy has also self- published a short novella, ‘The Beloved‘ as both a companion to ‘The Healing‘, and as an easy to read standalone story, which is available to buy on Amazon Kindle.
‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, will be published by Instant Apostle in July 2022
More information on Joy and her writing, and links to purchase her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com