December 2024

I hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year. And in my quest to get ahead, I purchased a majority of the things I needed pretty early in November.  I’ve been the victim in the past of waiting too long and not getting the “right” things that are traditional for our family.

But what I have found in my early preparation is that I have gone back to the store not once, not twice, not three times, but four times.  I had to go back and get things I forgot, didn’t think about, or ran out of in the meantime. I actually think that in my attempt to get ahead of the rush, I spent much more time, energy, and money than if I had just waited until the last week.

That’s what makes Advent so great.  It is broken down into four sections for us to focus on.  Rather than a whole meal for us to absorb, we can take each week and simply submerge ourselves in it. Imagine a whole week living in Hope! Imagine a whole week living with peace! And Joy. And LOVE!!  

Each course of this meal is designed to prepare us for the main course of Jesus’ arrival. There is no shopping involved. No groceries to buy. No need to cook or clean. We just receive the week’s message and see where it speaks volumes in our lives.

Preparing for Christmas can be exhausting if we focus on all of the traditional “must haves.” God is offing us something different in our preparation for Jesus’ birth. Four courses to a better life. One week at a time. 

Make sure to feast on the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love that God offers. 

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. – Romans 15:4