Advent

I am so ready for Christmas.

This is not something I think every year. In fact, I think I stopped liking Christmas the year my son moved out. But for some unknown reason, I am excited this year and ready to decorate before Thanksgiving.

Maybe it is because I find myself in a season of waiting, not unlike Advent, my favorite season of the liturgical year. Advent means "coming" and it refers to the coming of the Messiah, the Christ.

To me, Advent is about settling into the waiting for dawn after the dark night, waiting for the first cries of a new babe, waiting for the wedding day. Not simply settling in...that might be the wrong idea. It is a surrender to the waiting because these events can't be rushed. There are preparations to complete, and there is palpable anticipation with just a pinch of anxiety mixed in.

Advent, the waiting for the coming, is an exercise in faith. I believe the Dawn will come. I believe that the Child will be born. I believe that the Groom will meet His bride. In its delay, the heart quickens and doubts arise. What if something goes wrong? What if it doesn't happen at all? What if I was wrong?

Our faith helps settle our hearts to remain steadfast. The Dawn is coming. The Birth will happen. The Groom will be on time. Our faith reminds us of the promises. Our faith reminds us of His Story woven through time.

I sit, already, in the waiting, the anticipating, of His coming again-for me now and me then. I begin the preparations of cleaning my heart and my home-purging old, useless clutter while making a warm inviting place for Him. My faith is not static but active, not frantic but purposeful. I prepare as I await the Advent, but I am so ready for Christmas.

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