"Stir us up, O Lord, to make ready for your only-begotten Son. May we be able to serve you with purity of soul through the coming of him who lives and reigns."
From: Arnold Ytreeide, Bartholomew's Passage: A family story for Advent
We've had a slow start to Advent this year, at least on the home front. I'm always struck by how difficult it can be to carve out that daily time to light an advent candle and say a prayer together, especially at the beginning of the season. When we do, though, it is so worth it. I feel protected from the "craziness" of buying, buying, buying and going to one event after another. Celebrating Advent gives me a concrete alternative to all that the world says I should be doing during this season and it prepares my heart for Christmas. This makes Christmas a real time of joy and celebration instead of the day when we finally get to stop all the craziness and breathe a sigh of relief. Without Advent, Christmas often seems like a let down. I feel like Christmas becomes all anticipation and very little substance and fulfillment. But with Advent, and a celebration of the entire season of Christmas (that's all twelve days!), things become much more balanced for me. My perspective changes and I remember what it is all about - the unfailing love of a God who humbled himself and became one of us.
Tonight we finally began the devotional we will be reading with the kids this Advent: Bartholomew's Passage by Arnold Ytreeide. It was so good for me to be reminded again of the threefold nature of Advent. As he put it, "[Advent is a] . . .celebration of the birth of Jesus, his eventual second coming to earth, and his continued presence in our lives here and now. God in our past, God in our future, God in our present (p. 7). "
I love that line, "God in our past, God in our future, God in our present." It's what I need to remember again and again and it's what I want my children to learn: that we need God's presence in our lives always. There is NO time that we can truly live without Him.
As the prayer above says, "Stir us up, O Lord, to make ready for your only-begotten Son"
Tonight we finally began the devotional we will be reading with the kids this Advent: Bartholomew's Passage by Arnold Ytreeide. It was so good for me to be reminded again of the threefold nature of Advent. As he put it, "[Advent is a] . . .celebration of the birth of Jesus, his eventual second coming to earth, and his continued presence in our lives here and now. God in our past, God in our future, God in our present (p. 7). "
I love that line, "God in our past, God in our future, God in our present." It's what I need to remember again and again and it's what I want my children to learn: that we need God's presence in our lives always. There is NO time that we can truly live without Him.
As the prayer above says, "Stir us up, O Lord, to make ready for your only-begotten Son"
3 comments:
I keep coming across Bartholomew's Passage this year - I'll have to check it out for next year!
I haven't had time to wander around the Advent Carnival, but have been reading Noel Piper's blog (John Piper's wife) and she has some neat posts about advent... that are posted on her husband's blog. : ) Not that you need more ideas/thoughts, but I've been enjoying them. : ) http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/
Where can I find out more about the real 12 days of Christmas? What else is there besides Christmas and Epiphany? I can't remember...
Hey friend! Can you do me a favor? I'm wondering about my comments on people's blogs and the email notifications they get when I leave comments... if it has my email address on it or not. Can you forward the email you get with this comment to me so I can see what it looks like? Thanks! : )
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