Advent, Day 4

“And so the Lord said, ‘I will destroy all human beings that I made on the Earth. And I will destroy every animal and everything that crawls on the earth and the birds of the air, because I am sorry that I have made them.’”

Once again we listen to the Word and are stunned to silence.

He was sorry. Sorry he made us. He despaired that we even existed. He wanted to destroy everything.

Michaela is stricken. “But we are so much WORSE now.”

We all nod in somber agreement and quiet despair. But there is hope!

“Noah found favor with God.”

How did he find fvor? How can WE find favor?

For the love of one faithful man, God offered a reprieve from his terrible justice. Noah must not only believe, but act on his belief. In the midst of persecution and ridicule he picked up hammer and nails and crafted salvation from wood. And when the flood of God's disappointment was over, the Lord of all creation hung a promise in the sky to remind us of His love.

The rainbow reminds us of God’s promise, and that our true salvation comes from another piece of wood, the raft of the cross that we must cling to or be drowned in the sins of the world.

Advent Tree, 3

 I was unprepared. Once again, my disappointment that things weren’t going according to MY plan hid the possibility that things were going exactly according to HIS. We gathered and they were… excited. Excited! Thrilled to be reading and discussing and learning! How could I have worried that they had to wait a day or two? Isn’t the lesson all about the waiting? I was humbled before I even began.

 This lesson was about the Fall of Man. “We’re only two chapters in. And the whole story falls apart.” Have you ever thought about that? Two Chapters. Only one generation from God. And still in the presence of God. God walked with them in the “breezy part of the day”. God WALKED with them. They were In His Presence! Regularly! How could anyone turn from that? How could anyone be tempted? 

 But they were. They made their choice and all of Man has paid the price for their Pride. Paid the price for the desire to be bigger, better. Paid for the need to KNOW, and the need to say “See, I know too.” God is swift in His justice. Elizabeth looks at me, eyes wide and whispers “How devastating.”

But God breathes hope to Eve. Hope that one day a distant descendant will crush the head of that tempting serpent. Do we see now that His plan is from the beginning? That from the moment of our Fall He has arranged our redemption? Do we appreciate that Christ knew at that moment the price he would have to pay to save us?

We hung a big red apple on our tree. It’s good for food and pleasing to the eye, but it weighs down the branch almost to breaking. Weighs it down heavy, like the sins of the world.

Sacrifice...

   We didn’t gather on the third day. Well, I should say that we gathered many times but it was short and hurried, quickly spent with a chorus of “Did you get…” and “Oh, don’t forget to…” and “Hug me quick because I’m late for work.” Life hands you schedules that are hard to keep and healing work won’t wait until after Advent. Even Christ had to heal on the Sabbath.

  I was sad and more than a little disappointed. I can see that this Advent while so much BETTER and more FOCUSED will not be perfect. It’s hard to appreciate that when you are a perfectionist to the core and every little thing needs to BE. JUST. SO. I pray that I can silence my disappointment and open my heart to my children. They need to live without the weight of perfection lying like a heavy yolk around their shoulders. How can they look joyfully to Heaven when they are burdened down by my faults?

I chose my work, yearned for it, was called to it. This nursing work of helping and healing, cleaning and soothing. It brings me joy and quiets my soul. I find God in the healing. 

But the time. It take SO much time. I hate the time away from my family. Time that I like to plan and organize and make into beautiful, scrapbook worthy moments.

Father J. reminds me that I am sacrificing something when I’m unable to go do the things I want because of my work. He sweetly scolds me that sometimes our Father knows what is hardest to sacrifice and arranges for that sacrifice to be placed in our path. 

Oh Lord, you know my heart so well.

Advent Tree, Day 2

Yesterday we gathered again for a little while. A sacred little moment of reflection in between music lessons and boy scouts. Just a few minutes of contemplation after supper and before bathtime. A huddling around the Word, and a hanging of another lonely ornament.


Today's ornament was the Earth, a clear glass globe painted to look like the continents by Michaela and Alexander. It was hung all alone on our tree but for a tree trunk charm and the Light of Christ. "It's so EPIC", she said. "Totally", he agreed. How little do any of us understand just how epic this story really and truly is. That simple truth whispered quietly by my children rings loudly in my ears. 

We sat together with the Word whispering in our ears and the imaginings of a huddle of hearts as Father, Son and Holy Spirit breathed into being the likeness of God, our eyes brimming with tearful appreciation that each of us is breathed into being in exactly that way. We lift our faces to God.

And still, we wait...


Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel...




(If you would like to experience our devotional, please visit A Holy Experience, for Ann Voskamp's Jesus Advent Celebration. We also have adapted some of our own devotionals from EWTN, here, and Domestic Church.com, here.)

The Advent Wreath and the Jesse Tree.

Advent. A time of anticipation. A time of turning hearts and minds to the coming of the Christ. A time of deep spiritual reflection. 


Usually.

This year, I sat defeated in my prayers. Tired and overwhelmed with consumerism, wanting so desperately to avoid the chaos of the season. Ready to boycott the commercialism and sensationalism and worldly focus on a jolly old elf that began only as an advertising campaign, yet another distraction from the truth of the holiness of this time of year. In fact I had decided much to the dismay of my family that there would be NO decorations for Christmas until Christmas was HERE! Except, of course, for the Advent wreath. And in looking for a quiet devotion for the Advent season, I stumbled upon A Holy Experience, and quite by accident had exactly that.

 

    I was absolutely blown away by Ann Voskamp and her Jesus Advent Celebration. The Spirit moved in me with a resounding "YES! FINALLY!" Her book is filled to the brim with spiritual insight and inspiration for turning your Jesse Tree into a daily Advent devotional. As I was waiting impatiently for the email link to my precious discovery, I was inspired to make a small change. My epiphany was this: Why can’t the ENTIRE Christmas tree be our Advent Wreath?

    So I gathered the children on Saturday for a marathon of gathering and crafting symbols of the Bible, things they knew of and had heard of but could not understand why we were making and gathering all of them RIGHT NOW. And I pulled out my Christmas tree and the lights. And Sunday we gathered around that plain Christmas tree, decorated only with white lights, lights that for us are a reminder that Christ is the Pure Light of the World. 

And with Ann's words in my hands and Bibles in theirs, we read the first words of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” And I read the introduction from "A Jesus Advent Celebration" to a captive audience, and we were moved to silence. And as our youngest of 5 hung that first ornament, so tiny and small on that great big tree, we sat together in silent contemplation of a symbol we had used for so many years but appreciate now in a whole new way. 

   

    Our tree stands barren but for one small ornament and we want to fill it up, to finish it all right now because it is going to be SO GREAT! But the light of the world is calling us to Wait, to Watch, to Anticipate the coming. His coming. And we know in our heart of hearts that this will be the best Advent EVER. Period.