Plaid Mugs Don't Lie

Did you notice? It's the most wonderful time of year again!
Well, it is. I can prove it.
Look what jumped off the shelf  into my TJMaxx cart this week.

Plaid mugs don't lie.

Ahem. Seriously.
It’s not because of the snow. Though it is wonderful.
It’s not because of the red cup. Though it makes a dreary day cheery.
It’s not because of the music. Though it changes the whole mood of the season.
It’s not because of the pine trees. Though I may or may not be preoccupied with thoughts of how I will decorate ours this year.
It’s not because of the lights. Though there can never, ever be too many.
It’s not because of the food. Though I am obsessed with holiday food.
It’s not because of the presents. Don’t get me started.
It’s not because of the family gatherings/kids home from school. Though that one is close.

No. It’s about the very best thing about Christmas. The anticipation. The hope.

Advent. I’ve written many a post* about this important yet often under-acknowledged holiday over the years because I'm obsessed with it. Advent is what took my most favorite month of the year and sent my enjoyment of it over the top.

There’s so much to love about the sacredness of Advent. It’s so...so...daily and intentional.

It’s an every day focus on what matters most. The entrance of a Savior into our world. Recalling the details of His first arrival, that starry Bethlehem night. It’s so wonderful to read the eyewitness accounts in the Bible trying to imagine the details. It’s a special kind of worship. Assigning value by remembering and thanking God. It’s honoring to Him.

There's also a looking forward. A longing for the second and final Advent, when all the promises of the Bible are fulfilled at last. When the Savior arrives...again. Not as a baby though, rather a mighty warrior coming to collect His brothers and sisters and bring us to our Father. Oh that will be a day!

I’m looking forward to it and hope you are too. It’s the dream of all dreams. The hope of all hopes. As tragedy and evil increase, the more my anticipation intensifies. Better days are ahead, friends. This isn't as good as it's going to get. Not by far!

What if that hope became the focal point of our Christmas season?
That’s what Advent does.

May I gently suggest you make Advent a more prominent part of your December?

Let's start with the basics:

What Advent ISN'T:
It isn't finding a piece of candy every day hidden in a pocket or behind a fake door. That may be fun and tasty, but it’s not Advent.
It isn't attending a Christmas church service, though we should definitely do that.
It isn't baking Jesus a birthday cake, though he did create frosting for us to love.

Those can be good things, but there is so much more! It's about celebrating Christmas, Jesus-style, making Him the Main Event.

What Advent IS: Every day of December (sometimes starting on December 1st, other times starting the 4th Sunday before Christmas Day)...

It’s preparing room in our heart for Jesus to come fill and quite possibly rearrange what is revealed.
It’s taking time out of our day to focus our thoughts, our prayers, our heart desires on the two Advents.
It's making space in our day to be still, to read God's Word, to pray and listen.
It’s personal worship.
It’s confession of sins.
It's mending broken relationships as much as it is up to us.
It’s finding ways to reach out to the needy, the poor.
It’s being kind and generous to everyone we meet, including those closest to us.
It’s a choice not to arrive at December 25th irritable, worn out and full of regret, wishing we had found the secret to a meaningful Christmas.

How does that sound? Impossible? Nope. It's 100% within our grasp.

It's not even complicated - that's the beauty of it. This is not the time of year we want to take a break from our devotional life. If anything, it should become a greater priority because of all the distractions we know are going to compete for our precious time.

I like to think of it as inviting Jesus to show up in the midst of all the merry and make Himself known to me in a new way that will make me marvel even more at the wonder of Him.

Just find a quiet space, your Bible, light a candle if you like them (I recommend a wood wick and listen to the crackle) and maybe start a fire in your fireplace. No fireplace? No problem. Surely you have Netflix.

(And yes, that's a whimsy turkey...after all, it's Thanksgiving this week!)

As my love for all things Advent, anticipating Jesus’ arrival, intensifies, so does my library of Advent devotionals. These are books written with the expressed intent to help us redirect our minds for a portion of every day (beware - the sheer delight may spill over into more of your moments.) to consider why Christmas is a thing, how it can and should change us, and spark creative, meaningful traditions for our children and grandchildren that will continue for generations.

I have a few favorites and I threw in a moose because I live in the Adirondacks:

Let's take a closer look.....









Found a few more....

I told you I obsess.

When every day of December is focused on Advent, joy permeates every area of your life. The busyness of the season no longer controls your schedule. The hectic pace is not bossing you around. What’s important takes center stage and with fresh Christ-centered moments, the not-as-important frenzy falls away.  And isn’t a silent night and peace on earth what we are all looking for?

Want to join me? Time to start planning now so you’ll be ready when it starts.

Maybe you're thinking, "Girl, you're crazy! This is the nuttiest month of the year, the worst to try and carve out time to sit still!" True, but maybe ask yourself this, “How hungry am I for a Jesus-filled holiday season? Is this the year I take a more spiritual approach to the holidays?”

Whatever you do, don’t settle for an American Christmas alone. I love it all too, but at the end of the day, if it wasn't about Jesus, it didn't mean anything. How have we shown the world around us our Hope, what really matters at Christmas? 

Just like all those years ago, when our Savior first took on flesh and was born into a manger, He is coming for you. He wants to bring you good gifts. All because He loves you. So why not keep watch for Him? Anticipate something wonderful.

"So in these weeks of Advent we ask God to heighten our awareness of His presence, 

to open our eyes to what He is doing - in us and in the world. He may speak to us through the words of others, He may show Himself in the face of someone in need, He may care for us through the kindness of friends, He may move us when we gather for worship, He may stir us through art or music, or He may whisper inwardly by His Spirit. Stay alert."**

Ask the questions - then make a change.
Be like the mugs - anticipate the wonder.



P.S. If you have a different devotional recommendation, do not keep it to yourself, please post it in the comment section.


*feel free to sneak back through my November and December posts through the years for more thoughts on Advent.
**Living The Christian Year by Bobby Gross

Pray This Way

It's a beautiful snowy morning here in the mountains. I just love November snow. It's so different from March or April snow, don't you think? It makes the most wonderful time of year especially wonderful.

 I've been thinking a lot about prayer lately. It's an amazing gift to be able to pray to the God of the universe at any moment of any day. The thought that He is always available and approachable is both staggering and glorious.

Greeting Him first every morning has become one of my greatest joys in life. The priority time slot that is my one true constant.

I remember when it wasn't so easy or natural. When sleeping until the last minute then rushing into my day was the norm, regret and shame following closely behind. I hated that.

I was missing out on so much, but not realizing that fact, I didn't make the time or effort to sit and talk to my Father each day.

Those days are long gone and nothing can keep me in bed in the morning because I know the Lord is waiting for me out by my window chair. Isn't that wonderful? Not sure?
Read Isaiah 30:18:

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him. 

Right there in the Bible, where all His promises are. I picture Him sitting in my living room, offering me a chair next to Him or if I'm feeling particularly needy and vulnerable, to crawl up into His lap.

We, as followers of Jesus, know this is God's intention toward us or we wouldn't have entered relationship with Him to begin with, right? So what keeps us from running there every day?

Perhaps we are tired, too busy with things that may be good but not the best. We've filled our lives with so much activity and responsibility (some not expected of us maybe?) that we can't squeeze a minute more margin. This can be fixed.

Or maybe we are afraid?

Are we hesitant to come because we think He is mad at us? That because we don't like ourselves very much, He probably doesn't either?
1. That's not true.
2. Likely this stems from guilt over sin.

We are all sinful and prone to sin, but we don't have to be slaves to sin any longer. On the cross Jesus purchased our freedom from sin. Hallelujah! This passage in Hebrews is what has brought me to these thoughts today. I just love it.

As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:

This new plan I’m making with Israel
    isn’t going to be written on paper,
    isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
This time “I’m writing out the plan in them,
    carving it on the lining of their hearts.”

He concludes,

I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.

Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to

 offer sacrifices for them.

^19-21 So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.

^22-25 So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. 

Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. Hebrews 11

The enemy has convinced us because of our sin we can't approach the Lord. Not true. Says so right there.

Still, if you are sinning, you need to stop. Just stop doing it. Tell God you're sorry and turn away from it 180 degrees and get going in the right direction. Live according to what is written in the Bible. That is wise living.

Confess. Repent. Receive His forgiveness. Live in peace.

Then you can bounce out of bed every morning (yes, you can be a morning person too!) ready to sit with Him and enjoy the relationship Jesus suffered to give you - because He loves you. Then you can ask whatever you wish and He will hear you.

Just one more thought on the notion of hesitation....maybe we are asking for the wrong things. There are times when we want something badly enough that we clench our fingers around it so tightly we can't rightly pray "whatever you will, God".

Other times we know for sure that what we want is not in God's will and we cower back, not willing to bring it to Him in prayer. This is stressful living. No peace. Not fun.

I heard it said that we can never ask for God's will until we don't care what it is. Now that is faith.

The question on the table is - do you trust Him with everything in your life? If you're struggling and you want what you want no matter what, may I gently suggest you remember His faithfulness, His lovingkindness toward you? You can trust that He always has your best interest at heart. Even if He asks you to give something up or says no to the thing you want the most, His character is trustworthy. Recognize that He knows better than we do.

There's something I want right now. Really badly. Like I think about it many times throughout the day and am practically begging for it. When I feel the desperation that I must have it or I'll die (enter drama queen), I calm myself with what I know.

God's will is best. I can place my desire right in His hands and leave it there. I can pray, "If You want to, I'd like this. If You say no, that's ok, because You know best and You never withhold something good from Your children."

Does this kind of surrender makes you uncomfortable or is it a new way to pray you haven't engaged much?

It used to be that way for me too, but the advantage of getting older is what I now see in the rear view mirror. Now I can look back at the things I begged God for that He didn't give. All the "nos". And.I.am.so.grateful. The boyfriends I hoped would be husbands? Oy. Thank you, Lord.

Taking away a difficult situation the minute the pain starts, how would my faith have grown? How would I have seen His faithfulness? How would I have learned to trust Him and watch Him bless me for it? These are good nos.

He knows. He's trustworthy. March right into His presence with both humility and confidence. Ask for what you want. But don't stop there.

Yield your desire to Him. Tell Him you only want it if it will bring Him the most glory in your life. Because that's the stuff.

If it's not going to bring Him glory, we need to not want it.

The next chapter in Hebrews after the one I quoted above is the frosting on this cake. (And we all know the frosting is the best part!)

Hebrews 11 - read it. It's the names and brief stories of those who are on God's list. (Yes, God is a list maker!) Amazing stories! Need to be inspired? Don't watch sports on tv or make fictional characters your super heroes - the Hebrews 11 gang are the ones we should be following.

And remember this -

 ...without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. v.11:6

Show faith by the way you pray. By how often you pray. Bring all your desires to Him, trusting Him to lead your life and write your story. As I regularly pray for myself, Scott and our kids, dare to pray this: "Lord, don't let us want anything more than we want you."


Then maybe we can be added to the list of greats like I'm sure Elisabeth Elliot is who puts it this way:

"I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done."

Yes and Amen. To live His will, not mine is my heart's cry.