I love this time of year, always have. I really mean it, I absolutely adore this
season. Winter is magical to me.
I love how pure white snows covers all the brown and grays
underneath. I love stepping out the door
and seeing not a single track to spoil the new blanket of freshness that has
covered the earth in the night. It is
fun to bundle up in extra layers and go out and explore. To be the first to make my mark.
On top of that I revel in the days between Thanksgiving and
Christmas and then Christmas and the New Year.
I am one of those people ready to put up the tree and listen to nothing
but Christmas music from the night of Thanksgiving on (Technically this year I
wanted to decorate for Christmas even before Halloween but the desire for a
real tree has forced me to still be waiting!)
I love the fun of trying to pick out good gifts if not the perfect gifts
for my loved ones. I like getting gifts
too!! I have a blast decorating them
cause my ornery side comes out…often I hot glue the Christmas colored material
shut…this year I have another thought up my sleeve! It is going to be fun! More than the gifts though is the days and
weeks preceding Christmas when as Christians we just naturally think on and
marvel at the fact that God came to earth in the form of a helpless child. God in the flesh. Do you really grasp that concept?
Last months some time I bought a devotional specifically
written for this season of Advent…I am still eagerly awaiting its arrival in
the mail...so now I am checking the mail, awaiting the coming of an advent
devotional. Irony eh?
I think that is what marvels me most about this season. The hope of Advent, the waiting and
anticipation. Earlier today I looked up
the word Advent, it is derived from a Latin word that means coming. I have been chewing that idea over and over
today. This season is all about Coming.
We all know Christmas
is the remembrance of the original
Coming of our King and Savior…but also the fact that He will indeed come
again! It is a season to Marvel and
Wonder, to Come and Adore Him to be overwhelmed at miracle of it all!!! Also have you noticed how giving people are
during this season? How the compassion
and love shines forth? I think the Christmas season is often a glimpse of what
the world should be like. Or what it means when we pray “Let Your Kingdom
Come”. We are less likely to turn a
blind eye to the homeless, the poor the needy.
We do a better job of loving our neighbor and the stranger.
Then there is the coming celebration of the entire holiday
season from Thanksgiving to Christmas as a time to spend with loved ones. To bless them with a little tokens of our
love and appreciation. That is what make
this season fun, the search for a good gift, taking time to wrap it and then on
the other end the wonder and waiting…sure people get overly worried about the
gift part of it and I am guilty of going in debt to try and find the right gift
beyond my budget….but that is just outward traipsings (is that even a
word?) The real gift is the love and
thought and the time. Don’t you just
love the excuse in this season to hang out with friends and family, to
fellowship to express heart felt sentiments to play games, to take time to just
be with one another.
Followed closely after Christmas is the New Year a time we
can reflect on the happening of the past year and look with anticipation at
what might come in the next year. We
can thank God for the unexpected blessings, and hopefully see growth in the trials
and challenges that happened and we can decided what we want to do better next
year for the slate is clean, we get a fresh start. We can set goals we try to attain, but mostly
we can look forward with hope and wonder and lots of” I hope this is the year”…..you
fill in the blank. Each New Year is full
of promise and expectation.
Me? I am going to a conference I have wanted to attend for
several years now…but more then that I am using the weeks between now and then
to remind myself of all the blessings of this year. This was the best year ministry wise, this
was the year I let my guard down the most and let people in the closest. Up until a few months ago this year was the
highlight of my entire life and ministry!!!
And I refuse to let the enemy steal any more than he already has!!! I don’t know what next year holds, I don’t
even know what to expect from this conference…but I am trusting that the best
is yet to come, somehow, someway, the best is yet to come!!
I guess if I had to put a finger on it, that is also why I
love winter. It’s a season of rest of
curling up with a good book, or spending time with family. And then as the cold begins to lag on and the
harshness of the cold or darkness starts getting to us we begin to long and
yearn for something more. Winter with its cold snowy days is the season we
start anticipating spring, green and life. We start planning our gardens while
the snow still flies, we look forward to the new life that emerges from the
ground. That white blanket is covering over
the death and dying with something shimmering and beautiful and in the end when it melts
away for the last time we find new life, shinning sun and hope.
It is all about the
Advent of Resurrection! These months of
winter promise the coming of a green spring and the more snow now the greener
it will be. These weeks between
Thanksgiving and Christmas, lead up to times of celebrating Christ, enjoying
our family and friends and expressing our love to both. As one year closes we get to look forward to a
new year with all the blessings and surprises God has in store.
For me personally I am tired of looking at destruction and
decay, at broken dreams, people and relationships in ruins, death, loss, etc. I
am tired of looking at the brokenness of this world and feeling like there is
nothing we can do to fix, prevent or change it. I used to look at all that and still not
have my hope shaken…I knew God moved mountains, I knew prayer changed things I
knew God was going to extend His mercy and grace into what looked impossible. I will admit I have lost that in recent
months, but I want that back!!! I have
seen the enemy wreak havoc and I yet I am choosing to look forward to the assurances
of Christ. I am looking forward to seeing Christ glorified in what looks to my
natural eyes as nothing but a total loss.
I am looking forward to seeing the promises not yet fulfilled in my life
and in the lives of so many believers, accomplished. I am looking for true Revival!!! I am looking forward to spring and the
promise of new life….I am choosing to look through the lenses of hope and
anticipation as I look forward. In the
meantime, in this season of waiting, I am going to enjoy this season of
Advent.
