One reason we won't feel too lonely is our amazing church family. We have already enjoyed many traditions that our church has during the Advent season, but one that so many look forward to is our Christmas Eve service. There is something special about worshiping the newborn King among the friends that you worship with every Sunday, your real family in Christ. The true highlight of the service is when our pastor reads the Christmas story from Luke to the children, while holding the youngest baby from our congregation! All throughout my pregnancy there was a conversation about whether or not LB would be able to be the baby. Once my induction was scheduled for the 19th, we were hoping we would be able to take our sweet 5 day old baby....and we did!
And we are looking forward to taking both boys to this year's service to see LB's buddy Jack as the "Christmas baby!" (Well, we are a little nervous entertaining the boys for an hour in church may be a disaster...but we'll see how it goes!)
Another tradition that is so special is a book of Advent devotions that various members of our church write. Last year I was honored and a little scared to be asked to write on of the devotions, but decided it was a good challenge for me to take on. I was asked to write again this year (so I guess last year's wasn't too horrible!) I wanted to share it with y'all!
I want to wish you a most wonderful Christmas with those you love!
An Advent devotion from Luke 1:67-80- Christmas Eve 2011
During the Advent season last year we were actively waiting for the birth of our second son, Cole. Those last few weeks of pregnancy often seem to drag on, but the excitement of the season and celebrating the birth of Christ did make it seem to go by a little faster. Unlike the examples of extreme patience and faithfulness demonstrated by Abraham and Sarah, Elkanah and Hannah and Elizabeth and Zachariah, we have been blessed with our children without much waiting.
Imagine how long Elizabeth’s pregnancy must have seemed to Zachariah--knowing the plans that God had for his son, as told to him by the angel of the Lord, and not being able to speak! If we knew the specific and amazing plans that God had for our own children we would probably be shouting it from the rooftops! After John’s birth Zachariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and he is finally able to recite his song of praise to God.
Zachariah praises God for keeping His promises. How excited the new father must have been to have the son he had prayed for and knowing that his cousin would soon give birth to the even longer awaited Messiah! When it feels like we have been waiting forever for something to happen, maybe even past the point of it seeming feasible, remember that God keeps his promises.
Also remember that God is working in the “in between” times, using us in ways we do not understand. We are given each new day so that we can serve Him and our experiences prepare us for things that we do not even realize we are waiting for. Life has its mountains and valleys, but it is during the times of calm that are often the most important. These are the times that we should nurture our relationship and dependence on Jesus and his teachings. We can then recognize that no matter what we face, when we trust our lives to God the outcome will always be the same--through His mercy we will be forgiven and saved from our sins.
Just as John prepared many for Jesus’ teachings, we too are called “77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
