The Middle of Advent

In preparation for Christmas, we’re in the middle of the now and the not yet – middle of Advent, the four-week season of remembering and celebrating the coming of Jesus to earth. In between the hope and peace and the joy and love ~ our Advent assurance.

The month of December seems to come and go more quickly every year.  So how can we embrace anticipation and set it apart from other months so it’s not just another Christmas?  It can be a challenge to find the silence and stillness to curl up with a devotional to just think advent-thoughts instead of getting shoved into January by the December whirl.

But reflect?  Not in this century.

The awe and wonder of Jesus birth foretold and fulfilled should stop us in our Advent tracks. Think of it . . . a teen peasant girl is met by an angel sent by God who told that her virgin womb will carry the One who will save the world.  It’s about a star and poor shepherds, the royal and wise who bring gifts not fit for a baby, but fit for a king.  Who would want to miss the wonder of all this?

But a story told and retold can become old. So it’s up to us to keep Christmas well or it will become so familiar that the splendor fades.  Actually, we should be wonderstruck that this story can never lose its shine over time. And we can stay wonderstruck if we take a holy moment to rekindle the wonder on a silent night to consider the magnitude of the human nativity who still impact our lives thousands of years later.

The next weeks will go fast and can take a toll on your soul. Before you know it, we’ll be returning gifts and making resolutions and the pace of the season will have taken over the peace of the season.  So instead may we breathe and reflect to position our heart to take a fresh look and grow deeper.

Find something new in an old story.  You.

Maybe for you this is a season that reminds you of what you’ve lost rather than what you have.  I understand, so I’m grateful for the landmine of memories.  Hold onto remembrance, friends — it’s the precious piece.

Let us keep December close and take it with us every month into the coming year, because God sent a Savior to light the darkness ~ so it’s never just another Christmas.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.  You shall multiply the nations and increase their gladness.  Isaiah 9

And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord.  In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God and they will remain.  Because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth – this One will be our peace.  Micah 5