As Darkness Falls . . .

wait - prepare - celebrate

It has already started.

If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, it has begun.

Darkness is overtaking the light.

As the days on our calendars disappear, so too do the daylight hours wane.

Suddenly (and weirdly), my body thinks it’s time for bed at six in the evening. At the same time, my spirit lifts in glad anticipation of what the change in season means.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Many children around the world are getting excited, thinking about all they will receive from Santa on Christmas Day.

But there are many more of us who are preparing to celebrate the greatest gift ever given: Jesus Christ

The season of Advent begins today. Advent, simply translated, “coming” or “arrival,” is all about waiting, preparing for, and celebrating the arrival of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Advent for me has never been a liturgical practice. Rather, my desire to celebrate these days leading up to December 25th has grown as I’ve grown — closer to the Babe in the manger.

There are many ways to celebrate: Advent wreaths, calendars, devotionals, etc. I’ve listed a few of my favorites with you at the end of this post.

In past years, I’ve shared with you my own Advent devotional: Introducing Jesus: An Advent Celebration, and I usually post a daily Scripture Advent on FB and IG.

This year, I’ve decided to mix it up a bit.

I’ll be posting here for the next three Sundays of Advent.

December 7th - Waiting: Why we need to learn this important virtue

December 14th - Preparing: How we can prepare our hearts to receive Him

December 21st - Celebrating: The Gift

I will also post a daily Advent on IG and FB for you to “open.” It occurred to me that the Old Testament is really one big Advent calendar! So each day, December 1st - December 25th, I’ll be posting scripture from the OT that points to the advent, the arrival, of Jesus.

We have a lot distracting and vying for our attention this time of year. We can’t make the time, but I hope you’ll take the time to pause and reflect each day (whether by reading my posts, or using other resources) on the Reason for the season.

Shalom.

Resources:

Books - for reflection

Waiting on the Word: A poem a day for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany by Malcolm Guite (available on amazon.com and bookshop.org)

All Creation Waits - Gayle Boss (available on amazon.com and bookshop.org)

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas by Bonhoeffer, Dilliard, Merton, Lewis, et al (available on amazon.com and bookshop.org)

The Advent Narrative: The Life You Didn’t Know You Were Already Living by my friend, Mary Geisen (available on amazon.com)

The Women of Advent… a gathering of scattered hearts, past and present by my friend, Sheila Atchley (available on amazon.com and bookshop.org)

From Heaven: A 28-day Advent Devotional by A. W. Tozer (available on amazon.com)

Calendars - for fun

Christianbook has a nice selection.

The Vermont Country Store has the best (chocolate) Advent calendars! (Hurry, they sell out fast!)

Love Pop has some super fun calendars this year!

And last, but definitely not least, Jaquie Lawson has been offering her Christmas Advent Calendar since 2010, and they get better every year! https://www.jacquielawson.com/advent/christmas-village

Disclaimers and credits:

Links are only for your convenience, not monetized.

Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/@miracleday

AI Disclaimer: No part of this blog was written by bots. Every word, typo, grammatical error, and witticism is lovingly and/or accidentally crafted by my own two (very human) hands.