the season of advent

this is quite possibly my favorite time of year: our lovely home has been festively decorated, christmas music plays regularly, and the holidays filled with family and friends (and no school!) linger up ahead. I have always loved and eagerly anticipated the Christmas season.

but for me this year, advent is somehow bursting with more energy and meaning than ever before. I am utterly mesmerized by the promises of advent, the hope and desire and the ways this season has opened and softened my heart. I'm learning so much about God: his goodness and his love, his ability to have a much better plan for us then we may have designed for ourselves, and his power to make all things new. this season is overflowing with potential for each one of us- this is our time to anticipate, tune in, be still and listen for God's presence now. and now. and now.

Frederik Beuchner says:
"The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment."

O God of Life

I don't have it all together. I often let doubt and fear take over, and I sometimes forget that my God is a good God who desires to bless me and create new beginning after new beginning inside of me and in my world. Lately I've been unsure of what to pray for in my life... and it's comforting to know that I don't always have to have the right words. It's enough to ask, beg, even plead for God to simply show up. To be near. To work in me in ways that I cannot communicate. He listens and cares and blesses us whether we ask for it or not. And he places people in our lives that can give their presence and their love that heals and encourages and acknowledges our paths.

I'm also grateful that when I don't have the words, someone else usually does.
This is my prayer tonight:

O God of life,
who chooses creation over chaos
and new beginnings over emptiness,
we bring to you the disorder of our nation
and the emptiness of our lives and relationships.
Bless us and all the nations with the grace of creativity.
Bless us and all people with the hope of new beginnings.

Source: Celtic Treasure: Daily Scripture and Prayer by J. Philip Newell