My daughter is home from college for Christmas break. My son will be out of high school in another week for his break. My hubby and I have two Christmas functions to attend after work this week. The hustle and bustle has definitely been taken up a notch for me. In an effort to enjoy every minute of this Advent season, I need to be very intentional with my time, so I’m taking a writing break until January. I can’t wait to see how God will show Himself in the details of this season and I look forward to meeting you back here in January to share. I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
As I sit typing this post, it’s pitch black dark outside and really cold. It’s supposed to drop into the twenties tonight. I feel exhausted from a busy day. My body feels like it could be close to midnight, yet it’s barely 7:00.
I am reminded of a conversation I had with a dear old friend at church on Sunday. I hadn’t seen him in a while and we were catching up. He has recently retired and I told him I had been praying for him. He thanked me and asked me to keep praying. He told me he was keeping busy, but really struggled this time of year with the dark, and lately, rainy days. I nodded in agreement and assured him I would.
Tonight, sitting at my keyboard, I agree with him. I much prefer to write in the daylight with sun shining brightly through my windows. It’s so easy to see God, in the chirping birds and blooming flowers, or even in the fall foliage.
It’s sometimes much harder to find Him in the darkness.
There’s actually something called Seasonal Affective Disorder, where people become moody and depressed during seasons with less light. Our physical bodies and minds instinctively crave the light.
I find it beautifully symbolic that the days grow shorter and shorter, the closer we get to Christmas. It’s as if the earth itself is groaning for the light that we are readying our hearts to celebrate. On December 21st, we experience the shortest day of the year and after that, the days begin to lengthen little by little.
Then, just three days after that longest night of the year On December 24th, we celebrate the light from heaven that came to earth to change the fate of mankind forever. Thanks to that baby, we never have to walk in spiritual darkness again.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence that it was also three days between that dark Friday and the glory of Easter morning…
As I ponder these coincidences and the power, goodness, and timing of God, I glance over at my dogs who are always at my side when I write. They don’t carry watches around and they don’t seem to care whether the sun is shining or it’s the dark of night. They like to be near me.
I smile as I’m reminded that we worship a God who is also by our side, rain or shine, day or night. He likes for us to be near Him. When we search for Him we will always find Him even in the darkest of circumstances. After all, He is the light.
So, let’s all take a deep hopeful breath and remember that the darkness never wins. Christmas is coming soon. Hallelujah!
Yesterday, a little girl came into the school clinic. Her mouth was bleeding and she was a little panicked. Our nurse had stepped out, so I did a little triage. I asked her if she had lost a tooth and she said no. I gave her a cup of water to rinse her mouth out, so I could get a clearer look.
She rinsed and I took a look. There was a baby tooth that was the source of the bleeding. I asked her if it was loose and she told me that it started bleeding when she bit into an apple. All of the pieces fell together and I assured her that all was well, that her tooth was bleeding because it would soon come out and that she didn’t need to worry.
She looked like she wasn’t sure she believed me, but she took a tissue with her and went back to lunch.
It wasn’t long before she came back in grinning, with a tiny tooth in her hand. This time the nurse was in the clinic, but she stopped by my desk to show me. We talked about the tooth fairy coming to visit. She got a bag from the nurse to keep it in and she was on her way, much happier than she had been when she came in the first time.
I thought about that little girl on my drive home. I thought about how she panicked when she saw blood and how she wasn’t so sure that I knew what I was talking about. How could something bad like blood in her mouth, mean something good was about to happen?
Sure, I knew what was coming, because I’m older and I’ve been there, but how often have I panicked myself, when something was different than I thought it should be?
Things that we consider bad, happen to us all of the time, the job we didn’t get, that we wanted so badly, the relationship that didn’t work, even thought we gave it all we had, that no, that we wanted so desperately to be a yes, can all seem devastating at the time.
Yet, the passage of time, coupled with age, allows us to look back and more often than not, see all those “bad,” things were actually good and led us to a better place, or a better situation, or even better people.
The longer we walk with God, the more we come to realize there’s always a plan and that He’s always in control. There’s a peace that comes from knowing and believing that since He’s got it, we simply don’t need to worry about what comes next.
We’re really no different than the little girl and her tooth. We don’t have to panic because something good is in the works. We call that faith.
Our hope in Christmas is so much more that anything we can buy or create ourselves.
Yesterday at church, we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent, which marks the beginning of the period when we expectantly wait for the birth of Christ. Every Sunday until Christmas, someone will light a new candle and read some Scripture and then say a prayer. The Church takes the opportunity to prepare our hearts for Christmas.
As Christians, Advent reminds us to prepare for Christmas in a different way than the secular world prepares. It’s a thoughtful time of reflection that doesn’t require us to spend any money or to do any physical running around at all. I remember when my children were little and we were asked to light a candle, we would talk it over several times before we actually did it and everyone was a little nervous.
Yesterday, a sweet couple had been asked to light the first candle of the season. I always admire how polished they are each Sunday. They usually look like they stepped out of a clothing advertisement. After the husband read, the wife went to light the candle and the lighter didn’t light. After several attempts, she looked up at the congregation and told us they had practiced. The pastor stepped in and she couldn’t light it either and she finally passed it to the husband who had no better luck.
There was some laughter in the congregation at that point. But, then another parishioner handed the wife a different lighter and she lit the candle. The entire congregation erupted in cheers and clapping. The husband then said a prayer and they returned to their seats.
Although I’m sure that couple would have never chosen to have their technical difficulties, I ended up thinking about the Advent lighting much longer than I usually do.
I thought about how we often lose the meaning of the season when we are intent on creating the perfect Christmas. We live in a broken world. Our children or other loved ones, sometimes get sick at Christmas, or the turkey turns out dry, or the picture perfect cake didn’t turn out like we hoped, or finances are strained, or relationships are strained.
Perfection does not exist on this side of Eternity no matter what our friends at Pinterest or Facebook would like for us to believe. We will often fall short of the world’s ideal picture because sometimes no matter what our preparation was, the lighter just won’t light.
As Christians, Advent calls us to remember that we are in this world, but not of it and when we struggle and overcome, Heaven cheers for us, just like our congregation did for that couple. We are preparing for the One who overcame it all.
The first candle lit in Advent was for Hope. Our hope is something so much better than anything we could buy or create ourselves, this Christmas season. An advent candle mishap, reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
