Advent. Events. Invent.
We are now fully into the Season of Advent with only 2 weeks left before Christmas.
It is a time to prepare our homes for guests and our hearts for one very special guest. Perhaps He is already home in your heart but in this busy time of events, parties, and ‘to do’ lists it is easy to at times forget the ‘reason for the season’.
As we get more and more exhausted by the planning and decorating, the writing of cards and the wrapping of gifts, we may actually miss the simple beauties around us.
Advent might become a dark time , a time of frustrations , snapping at those close to us, and a time of wanting to pull away from it all.
And…perhaps that is exactly what we SHOULD do.
How can we actually find peace in this busy season?
How can we remember to see the beauty around us, within ourselves and in others?
Let’s try and just stop. Stop for a moment in every single day leading up to Christmas and ….breathe.
Make a cuppa perhaps. Sit down. Read the Christmas story. Close your eyes. Think of those you love. What are we thankful for?
Put on some beautiful Advent or Christmas music. Actually listen to the words. Let the tune move you into a space of contemplation and peace.
Or …just sit with the silence…perhaps even better.
Our physical preparations will get done….or….they won’t! We can delegate and we can choose to do less. But I think the secret here might be to truly ‘let go and let God’.
Because this season is less about preparing for parties and actually ALL about preparing for a wee babe.
A time when God chose to take the form of a human, to humble himself to be born in a stable, to be like us in all things…except sin.
It’s about a king who chose to be a servant. It’s about God who sent his only son to teach us, to laugh with us, to cry with us. To eventually suffer unimaginable sufferings which led to death on a cross ….all because He loves us.
He LOVES us. He loves you. He loves me.
And THAT is worth celebrating.
THAT is worth taking the time to meditate upon.
He created beautiful you. He created those gorgeous sunsets and the simplicity of a summer flower to name but a few.
I recently allowed myself to take some time to paint some of those summer flowers. Printmaker Sally Kendrick, invites us to look at plants and flowers and feathers “a moment longer than pragmatism requires.” She continues, “Such attention grows into love … [which] is nothing more than a response to the greater Love that created beauty.” (Renovaré, Oct. 2023)
Please enjoy my latest painting that I include below. I always love inventing a new scene and lose myself in the process every single time.
Let’s all take a ‘time out’ during these last 2 weeks leading up to Christmas to enjoy the beauty not only around us….but within us. God is with us.
Every . Step. Of. The. Way.
