Signing Off for a Few Days

As I mentioned in an earlier post today, I'm undergoing surgery tomorrow and expect to not be up to blogging for a few days.  However, at this season of the year, I wanted to leave a short post to say where I am and to wish you the very best of the Christmas season.  Remember to take time to anticipate and wait patiently for the gift of God's immense love.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon 1:3 (NIV)

 

Advent and Still Counting One Thousand Gifts (#218-224)

Each Sunday we're counting down to that special day.  The day we gather around the tree, open packages . . . . . no, wait!  Aren't we supposed to be patiently waiting for the celebration of His birth long ago?  We get so caught up in the world's Christmas that we often tend not to focus on the importance of Advent in our Christian focus.

The Christmas season is an unlikely and inconvenient time for scheduling surgery.  But in my life this year, it is a fact of life.  Tomorrow at noon, surgery to fuse my spine, then a recovery and rehab.  Well, Husband and I discussed it, and this year we're not decorating to any great extent.  Just small touches here and there.  I've been frustrated by my situation since it began last May and I remarked the other day that the journey to tomorrow has been just too long.  The waiting just too much.  But has it really?

In the midst of waiting, God has worked in me.  I have been forced to slow down.  I have had no choice.  Decisions were made around the house about what we could let go and what we would do together.  Oh, I forgot to mention -- my husband has been suffering with sciatica for three months!).  So, our  home isn't as tidy as usual, I haven't written or quilted as much, cooking demands are simpler, and on and on and on.

Yes, life has taken a turn, and yes, it could be worse.  The point is we stopped, looked around and made new choices about our life during the holidays.  And perhaps you might want to try doing the same even in good health and spirits.  Just a snippet here from these demands, and another little adjustment over there.  What do you say?

I know one thing -- my awareness during this Christmas season of what I've been missing during those other Christmases past when I ran myself ragged is like the diamond-sharpened edge of a knife!  And it's given me more time to focus on counting his marvelous gifts:

218.  Encouraging visit with surgeon.
219.  Advent's peace and fulfillment of promises of long ago.
220.  Hymns and songs of Christmas.
221.  A new mom to mentor at MOPS.
222.  Sense of peace as surgery date approaches.
223.  Husband's gift of a poinsettia in a year we're not decorating.
224.  Good talks with friends.

Although I'm a day or two late in linking up with Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience, won't you join me in going over there today?  Ann's book, One Thousand Gifts, is an awesome read and truly awakens your soul to the tiny gifts all around you.

Counting in December

It isn't often I double up and post twice on the same day but December is so full of such joy and anticipation that I couldn't wait another day to talk about December.  December holds so much in store for us, and we wait for it all year long.  It's the last, the 12th month of the year.  Remember how you disliked being picked last, or being the last in line to receive a treat, or the last line in at the gas pump.  December, although it's last, is chock full of surprises, joys, smiles and so much to anticipate.

Advent is the first thing to happen, and it actually began last Sunday, November 27th.  The advent wreath and its candles signal the message of hope, anticipation, waiting, the coming of the One who gives life and hope to the world.   In our Presbyterian tradition, we use a wreath very similar to the one here, and as a child I could not wait for the Christ candle, the white one, to be lit.  Even then I knew it signified something special.  Today I learn from the Christ candle.  Together the white candle and I wait patiently for its lighting, its affirmation that once again the Christ Child has come into our midst.

My hope this Advent season is to learn to wait more patiently and to focus on the Christ child the first eleven months of the year as fervently as I do in December.  Why is it we forget so easily that which is so important to our faith and salvation?  Think on the candles, especially the Christ candle.  What does it mean for you?  What is special about Advent that touches you?  I'd love to hear from you!