Waiting.

This weekend the Season of Advent is upon us once again.

As we begin to enter into our private / public journeys toward the birth of Christ let’s also take a step back and prepare.

And as we wait let us think about how we want to welcome the Son of God.

Do we want to give Him a glance now and then as we rush through the malls to shop for loved ones? There is so much to do to prepare! We must decorate and buy and wrap and visit and cook and bake and . …. And. AND….

But how do we prepare our spirits for this holy season? WHO are we celebrating?

Is Jesus not the reason for the season? Is Christ not the reason for Christmas?

Perhaps we might want to await His arrival with quiet anticipation, taking a portion of our day to thank Him for all we have ,all that we are, and all that will be…good or bad.

Good OR bad? How can we be thankful for the tough things in our lives?

We can remember that we are not alone. We can wait with hope because God has promised He would walk with us, He is aware of us, and the ‘weary world’ rejoices because He came to save the world!

“Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness!
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
To the one who seeks him;
It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:19-26)

We ‘are not consumed’…..

Think about that phrase. With all the horrors going on in the world today ( just lately with the mudslides causing death and destruction in B.C. as only one example) it would be SO easy to be consumed with fear to the point of not being able to breathe!

But ultimately, we can be certain that God is with us. Emmanuel!

So as we wait…. as we await ….let us truly put in place a time in our day to put Christ at the forefront of our mind and hearts. Even if it’s only 5 minutes at the start of our day. Let’s use Him as a shield against all this pain and worry and remember that soon we will celebrate the birth of the One who came to conquer death and give us peace. The peace that surpasses all understanding.

It takes courage to trust.

Let’s be strong for each other and know we’re not alone.

Peace, friends.

Let the joyful waiting begin…..