In the beginning was the Word,
    and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.
    He was with God in the beginning.

All things came to be through him,
    and without him nothing made had being.

In him was life,
    and the life was the light of mankind.

The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness has not suppressed it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was Yochanan. He came to be a testimony, to bear witness concerning the light; so that through him, everyone might put his trust in God and be faithful to him. He himself was not that light; no, he came to bear witness concerning the light.

This was the true light,
    which gives light to everyone entering the world.

He was in the world — the world came to be through him —
    yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own homeland,
    yet his own people did not receive him.

But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God, not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God.

The Word became a human being and lived with us,
    and we saw his Sh’khinah,
the Sh’khinah of the Father’s only Son,
    full of grace and truth.

Yochanan witnessed concerning him when he cried out, “This is the man I was talking about when I said, ‘The one coming after me has come to rank ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”

We have all received from his fullness,
    yes, grace upon grace.

For the Torah was given through Moshe;
    grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah.

No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father’s side — he has made him known.

John 1:1-18

            When I was a kid, we went spelunking in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. That is the closest to nothingness I have ever experienced. At one part, the lights that were in the cave and our flashlights were turned out so we could experience complete darkness. It was overwhelming. The absence of light made the darkness feel heavy, like you couldn’t possibly breathe. It was so disorienting. And that wasn’t nothing—it was just the absence of light. When the first flashlight flickered on, feeble as that one light was in the expanse of the cave, it felt like complete relief. Just the smallest bit of light, and everything was right again. You could breathe. You knew which way was up. You felt a weight lift. 

            That cave is a visceral example of what it feels like to find yourself in Christ, the Maker of all things. The darkness that feels alive, like it is swallowing you, just vanishes. It gives way to that spark of the Light of the World breaking in. The darkness hides. 

            The law gave us a path, one we could not follow. It was like trying to find your way through that dark cave. You couldn’t get far without falling on your face and bloodying up your knees. But there was hope, a Savior would come. A Savior did come and brought the light to us. Not to get rid of the path, but to light it up and show us the way. Our guide, our light—made known. 

            This Advent, as we walk in the dark of the season, we do so with Light. We celebrate the Word being made flesh. We wait for the King to return and make all things new. This heaven coming to earth—it is no small thing. It lifted the heaviness, the unbearable darkness, and gives us hope.  

Today’s Song: The Earth Stood Still by Future of Forestry

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Without delay, Miryam set out and hurried to the town in the hill country of Y’hudah where Z’kharyah lived, entered his house and greeted Elisheva. When Elisheva heard Miryam’s greeting, the baby in her womb stirred. Elisheva was filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and spoke up in a loud voice,

“How blessed are you among women!
And how blessed is the child in your womb!

“But who am I, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy! Indeed you are blessed, because you have trusted that the promise Adonai has made to you will be fulfilled.”

Luke 1:39-45 (CJB)

            Our culture is completely addicted to the news. There are multiple channels where you can watch news all day, every day. You get on social media, and the news is shared by your friends. We scour Twitter or Parler to see what is going on in the world. No longer do you get the highlight reel for one hour in the evening; now, you can know everything that is going on around the world all the time. Many people find that the news increases their anxiety and decreases their quality of life—yet very few people can turn it off. And… news sites don’t give you the good news; in fact, when a story ends up being not as bad as we initially thought, they usually won’t revisit the story with the positive update. When the death count starts to fall, they focus on the numbers going up. When unemployment starts to drop, they focus on something else. The news treats you like you don’t want good news (probably because you don’t). 

            I love this story in the Bible. Elizabeth (Elisheva) and Mary (Miryam) are having a mother-to-mother moment. If this happened today, they’d pose side-by-side for a bumpie. (I just made up that term—let’s make it a thing.) John leaps in the womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit and knows immediately the impact of this moment. There is Good News! The best news! Mary carries in her the Hope of the World.

            This is a baby announcement you can share! Jesus is coming! Our Hope and our Salvation is not far! Like Mary, trust the promise of God; He always keeps His promises—always. He says all will be made new. He says all who come to Him will be saved. He says you are loved, a cherished child made in His image, and He has made a Way for you. This is Good News! This is the best news. This is news to share! 

            Imagine if we all shared the Good News. Imagine if we focused as much of our time and heart on the Good News as we do on to the news. Imagine how our lives would change, how many brothers and sisters might be rescued, and how much our world would change if we focused on this Good News. Now that you’re done imagining, what can you do to make it so? How can you share this joy with those in your world? 

Today’s Song: Light of the World by Lauren Daigle 

The post Untriumphantly: The Joy of Good News appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

In the days of Herod, King of Y’hudah, there was a cohen named Z’kharyah who belonged to the Aviyah division. His wife was a descendant of Aharon, and her name was Elisheva. Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of Adonai blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elisheva was barren; and they were both well along in years.

One time, when Z’kharyah was fulfilling his duties as cohen during his division’s period of service before God, he was chosen by lot (according to the custom among the cohanim) to enter the Temple and burn incense. All the people were outside, praying, at the time of the incense burning, when there appeared to him an angel of Adonai standing to the right of the incense altar. Z’kharyah was startled and terrified at the sight. But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Z’kharyah; because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elisheva will bear you a son, and you are to name him Yochanan. He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many people will rejoice when he is born, for he will be great in the sight of Adonai. He is never to drink wine or other liquor, and he will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the people of Isra’el to Adonai their God. He will go out ahead of Adonai in the spirit and power of Eliyahu to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for Adonai a people prepared.”

Z’kharyah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man; my wife too is well on in years.” “I am Gavri’el,” the angel answered him, “and I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, to give you this good news. Now, because you didn’t believe what I said, which will be fulfilled when the time comes, you will be silent, unable to speak until the day these things take place.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Z’kharyah; they were surprised at his taking so long in the Temple. But when he came out unable to talk to them, they realized that he had seen a vision in the Temple; speechless, he communicated to them with signs.

When his period of his Temple service was over, he returned home. Following this, Elisheva his wife conceived, and she remained five months in seclusion, saying, “Adonai has done this for me; he has shown me favor at this time, so as to remove my public disgrace.”

Luke 1:5-25 (CJB)

            I imagine that reading was a little tougher for you. I love the Complete Jewish Bible translation for it’s ability to shake me out of my know-it-all-Sunday-School-complacent self. So, I’ll give a tiny guide—though maybe in trying to read through that particular story, you opted to grab your own Bible and read it in a more familiar way, which is fine. The characters in this story are Z’kharyah (Zechariah), Gavri’el (Gabriel), and Elisheva (Elizabeth). You also have mention of the name the child will have, Yochanan (John). I suspect you wondered what a cohen and mitzvot are. (The answer would be a priest and a commandment, respectively.) 

            Now that we have that out of the way, we can dig into the story a bit more. Zechariah (Z’kharyah) is doing his job as a priest. He’s in the Temple burning incense like he did regularly. This is an ordinary day on the job. Then, God disrupts Zechariah’s ordinary. An angel steps into the scene. Angels always seem to start by saying, “Do not be afraid”, which makes me think the natural reaction to seeing an angel is fear. But here is Zechariah, interrupted and awed by what God is going to do. And as God is known to do, He interrupts the ordinary for something even more ordinary—a baby. Zechariah and Elizabeth are old and barren. They have no heir. It seems that common dream is one Zechariah gave up long ago because he questions the angel’s message. But there is no mistake. There will be a miracle-baby named John who is coming to prepare the people for the coming Messiah. 

            Babies are born every minute. In fact, as mentioned before, about 250 babies are born every minute. That is an extremely ordinary and normal occurrence. But ask any parent, and they’ll tell you, whether it is their first baby or their eighth—every baby is a blessing and a miracle. For Zechariah and Elizabeth, this baby is even more of a miracle. (Infertility will make you appreciate the simple act of a baby being born a little more.)

            There is so much joy in this rather ordinary story. I’m going to admit, an angel visitation is not ordinary. I’m not denying how miraculous this story is. But heaven is peeking through the ordinariness and making it holy. The light of the coming Messiah is peeking through the curtain. 

            Have you stopped to examine your ordinary to see heaven peeking through? This time of year, I feel like you can see those little pinpricks of joy more easily. Look around you. What do you have to be joyful about? I’m listening to the Dora theme song for about the thousandth time, but hearing the giggles of a very content three-year-old sprinkled in. What joy! I’ve got a fat little baby napping and dreaming of more milk, an eighth baby after being diagnosed with infertility. What joy! I’ve got fuzzy slippers on my feet that are completely not stylish but are oh so cozy and warm. What joy! Joy comes from the simplest things. This Advent, this week, let’s take the time to notice and take note. If we’re still and look hard, we’ll see a little heaven peeking through. 

Today’s song: Today Is the Savior’s Day by Rend Collective

The post Untriumphantly: Joy in Simple Things appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

On their way Yeshua and his talmidim came to a village where a woman named Marta welcomed him into her home. She had a sister called Miryam who also sat at the Lord’s feet and heard what he had to say. But Marta was busy with all the work to be done; so, going up to him, she said, “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has been leaving me to do all the work by myself?” However, the Lord answered her, “Marta, Marta, you are fretting and worrying about so many things! But there is only one thing that is essential. Miryam has chosen the right thing, and it won’t be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42 (CJB)

            You probably know this story. Hopefully the translation did its job of making it feel a little bit new, but you know this story. Not only do I know this story; I feel this story. I’m usually pretty good about balancing my Martha and Mary (Marta and Miryam) sides in life. But this time of year is just a Martha time of year. There is so much to do. There is so much magic to create. There are still the usual Tuesday messes to be attended to, but these are magical Tuesday messes. There is more baking. (And more baking messes.) There are more crafts. (And more craft messes.) There are more guests. (And more cleaning the bathroom for those guests.) There is so much to do; it is far too easy to slip into harried Martha mode. 

            But there is one thing essential during this season. Those cookies—they aren’t necessary. The elaborate Christmas dinner—not necessary. (We all know that from A Christmas Story.) Those gifts—not necessary. The pony bead candy cane ornaments (Lord, help me!)—not necessary. What is essential? What is necessary? Jesus. Taking the time to sit at the feet of Jesus during this season—that is necessary. 

            Learn to sit. Learn to just be with those you’re with. Learn to ignore what we feel is pressing in on us for what is eternal. Those people, they’re always more important than presents. (Presence over presents!) That Baby in the manger is so much more important than a stocking on the mantle. Sit with your people. Sit with Jesus. 

            Those stockings aren’t bad—if you’ve got time for them, fine. The cookies aren’t evil—make them, and sit and enjoy them with your little ones (instead of cleaning while they enjoy them). The gifts aren’t awful as long as you know they aren’t the most important thing. Anything that is taking you away from sitting at the feet of Jesus—give that up. If Santa turns your house into a gimme zone, kick that fat man out. If the elf on the shelf occupies too much of your cuddling-by-the-fire time, the elf can pack his bags. If anything is keeping your eyes off Emmanuel, be done with it. Embrace a Mary’s heart this Advent, and sit down! 

Today’s song: Carol of the Banjos by Beta Radio 

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Here is how the birth of Yeshua the Messiah took place. When his mother Miryam was engaged to Yosef, before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Ruach HaKodesh. Her husband-to-be, Yosef, was a man who did what was right; so he made plans to break the engagement quietly, rather than put her to public shame. But while he was thinking about this, an angel of Adonai appeared to him in a dream and said, “Yosef, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miryam home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Ruach HaKodesh. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfill what Adonai had said through the prophet,

“The virgin will conceive and bear a son,
and they will call him ‘Immanu El.”

(The name means, “God is with us.”)

When Yosef awoke he did what the angel of Adonai had told him to do — he took Miryam home to be his wife, but he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Yeshua.

Matthew 1:18-25 (CJB)

            First things first—the first thing you probably focused on in today’s reading is that weird name “Ruach HaKodesh”. This is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for the Holy Spirit—Ruach being breath, spirit, or wind. (If your mind went to Genesis, you’re not alone, my friend.) HaKodesh meaning something like Holy One. Now that we have that burning question out of the way, we can continue. 

            So, here we have the story of Joseph. His tale was destined for the Maury show—am I right? His fiancé is pregnant; he resists the urge to put her on blast and instead is trying to come up with some way that he can handle this quietly. Now, I’m just going to say that not many of us would be so gracious. We’d definitely be tempted to blast this girl all over social media. But Joseph, well, he’s a man of great character. 

            Joseph (Yosef in Hebrew) is pondering all this when he falls asleep. An angel appears to him in a dream and tells him that the baby daddy is God and he should still marry Mary (Miryam in Hebrew). He wakes up, and he does what the angel in his dream told him. 

            Most people these days would find this story even more odd. Not only does an angel tell Joseph about Jesus in a dream, but then Joseph follows the dream advice. Most people these days find dreamers a bit strange. I’ve got a secret for you. I’m a dreamer. I’ve been told a number of things in dreams and then, in my waking moments, have had to make the choice to do what my dream said or not. That is such a weird place to be. “Honey, we’ve got to do X.” “Why? That doesn’t even make sense.” “God told me in a dream.” Such a weird conversation… (And probably equally weird to be on the other side of the conversation.) 

            Joseph is faced with a problem: he dreams the answer. His waking self then accepts this, and he calms down and does what his dream told him to do. In all of this mystery, in the miracle of a virgin conceiving the promised and long-awaited Messiah, we have a man sleeping and then waking and obeying the voice in his dream.

            You might not be a dreamer. You might not have these deep revelations or instructions from God laid out in a dream. But what we all do have is the Word of God in our hands and in our hearts. If we can quiet the noise long enough, we can hear the voice and obey. I know it isn’t popular to talk about hearing the voice of God, but if you aren’t listening, you’ll never hear it. And if you never hear it, your soul will never find the calm you’re looking for. So hush! Sleep! Dream! Read! Listen for the voice of God, get comfortable with living this mystery, and obey His Word. God is really with us. We can all calm down.

Today’s song: Noel by Chris Tomlin with Lauren Daigle

The post Untriumphantly: Calm Down appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

This is the word that Yesha‘yahu the son of Amotz saw concerning Y’hudah and Yerushalayim:

In the acharit-hayamim
the mountain of Adonai’s house
will be established as the most important mountain.
It will be regarded more highly than the other hills,
and all the Goyim will stream there.
Many peoples will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Adonai,
to the house of the God of Ya‘akov!
He will teach us about his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For out of Tziyon will go forth Torah,
the word of Adonai from Yerushalayim.
He will judge between the nations
and arbitrate for many peoples.
Then they will hammer their swords into plow-blades
and their spears into pruning-knives;
nations will not raise swords at each other,
and they will no longer learn war.

Descendants of Ya‘akov, come!
Let’s live in the light of Adonai!
For you have abandoned your people
the house of Ya‘akov.
Now they are filled from the east,
full of sorcerers, like the P’lishtim;
even the children of foreigners
are enough for them!
Their land is full of silver and gold;
They have no end of treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
They have no end of chariots.
Their land is full of idols;
everyone worships the work of his hands,
what his own fingers have made.
A person bows down, a man lowers himself —
don’t forgive them!

Come into the rock, hide in the dust
to escape the terror of Adonai
and the glory of his majesty.
The proud looks of man will be humiliated;
the arrogance of men will be bowed down;
and when that day comes,
Adonai alone will be exalted.

Yes, Adonai-Tzva’ot has a day in store
for all who are proud and lofty,
for all who are lifted high to be humiliated;
for all cedars of the L’vanon that are high and lifted up,
for all the oaks of the Bashan;
for all the high mountains,
for all the hills that are lifted up;
for every high tower,
for every fortified wall;
for every “Tarshish” ship,
for every luxurious vessel.
The pride of man will be bowed down,
the arrogance of men will be humiliated,
and when that day comes,
Adonai alone will be exalted.
The idols will be completely abolished.
People will enter cracks in the rocks
and holes in the ground
to escape the terror of Adonai
and his glorious majesty,
when he sets out to convulse the earth.

On that day a man will take hold
of his idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
and fling them away to the moles and bats!
Then they will enter the cracks in the rocks
and the crevices in the cliffs
to escape the terror of Adonai
and his glorious majesty,
when he sets out to convulse the earth.

Stop relying on man,
in whose nostrils is a mere breath —
after all, he doesn’t count for much,
does he?

Isaiah 2 (CJB)

            I’m sure coming to the end of this year, all Christians breathe a sigh of relief knowing that this isn’t all there is. We’re in on a secret. This world is being remade, even now, and there is more than just this sickness, this bickering, and this violence. We have this hope in a coming day. 

            Advent is all about waiting with hope. We’re waiting for that coming day. We celebrate Jesus come to earth in that manger in Bethlehem. But we’re also waiting for his second coming. Talking about the second coming gets weird for most Christians. Some talk about it like an escape ticket. Some talk about it like the apocalypse. Some just don’t talk about it. But our hope isn’t just in what Jesus has done, but in what He is doing and what He is going to do. 

            This waiting might be especially hard for you this year. You may be mourning losses from this year. You may be mourning the loss of your usual Advent. Whereever this Advent finds you, know that this isn’t all there is. There is more. The day is coming. We’re another year closer to our hope, and we’re another year comforted in that hope. Hope in Jesus is a now-and-not-yet business. 

            Preparing for Christmas looks different in a Christian household. The Christmas holiday has been largely secularized. While we could rant all day and night about it, it won’t change if we don’t change. Let’s face it—a season devoted to looking toward the second coming of Jesus is going to be weird. It is going to look different. If it doesn’t look different—question what it is you’re doing and where exactly your hope lies. But that takes some pressure off, doesn’t it? It isn’t about buying the perfect gift or having Instagram-worthy decorations. It isn’t about being busy and doing all the things. That is a load off my plate, for sure. 

            Preparing for Christmas looks like preparing for the day when the Lord alone will be exalted. What does that look like? Are you living the kind of life that finds good news in Yahweh alone being exalted? (That means I will not be exalted.) Preparing means preparing my life and my family for that day when the idols (of busyness, consumerism, pride, selfishness, haughtiness, self-righteousness) will vanish completely. That is a hopeful day. It is a day that we prepare for now because the day is coming. It is a day we hope in now, knowing, one day, it will be. Stop relying on man, yourself included; instead, put your hope in Him. 

Today’s song: In The Morning by JJ Heller

The post Untriumphantly: Hope for Now and the Future appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

Concerning love for the brothers we do not need to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other; and you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do it even more.

Also, make it your ambition to live quietly, to mind your own business and to earn your living by your own efforts — just as we told you. Then your daily life will gain the respect of outsiders, and you will not be dependent on anyone.

Now, brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died; otherwise, you might become sad the way other people do who have nothing to hope for. For since we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, we also believe that in the same way God, through Yeshua, will take with him those who have died. When we say this, we base it on the Lord’s own word: we who remain alive when the Lord comes will certainly not take precedence over those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God’s shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise; then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. So encourage each other with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-18 (CJB)

            This is a dark season. I’m not just talking about this year. In general, Decembers are dark. The days are short, the night is long. For many people, they begin to feel the effects of diminished vitamin D and seasonal depression can set in. Specific to this year, we may be missing some normalcy. We’re missing our trips, our shopping, and our parties. It’s just dark. It’s perfect for Advent. 

            Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical calendar. It is how we, as Christians, kick off our new year. That’s right! You don’t have to wait until January 1^st to ring in the new year. It starts now. There is so much hope in a new year. We make New Year’s resolutions because we want to be better this year than we were in the last. This year, most people are excited to be leaving behind the dumpster fire that was 2020. We’re hopeful that this new year will bring with it something better. 

            But for Christians, this new year, this hope—it isn’t in what is around us. We’re not people with hope because of a vaccine, the government, or the media. I’m not saying we don’t care about and aren’t involved in those things; what I am saying is that is not where our hope lies. Our hope lies in Jesus. And during this season where we wait for His coming, our hope is in Emmanuel, God with us.

            I think it is funny that Paul gives us the secret to “the happy life”, as a youth once said to me. Live quietly, mind your own business, and earn a living with your own hands. We aren’t just milling about and getting through life because we are not a people without hope. We have hope. Jesus was born. Jesus died. Jesus was resurrected. That is why we have hope. We can encourage one another, knowing that we don’t have the grieve like the rest of the world. Our hope is in Jesus.

Today’s song: What A Year for A New Year by Dan Wilson

The post Untriumphantly: A People of Hope appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, when an angel of Adonai appeared to them, and the Sh’khinah of Adonai shone around them. They were terrified; but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God:

“In the highest heaven, glory to God!
And on earth, peace among people of good will!”

No sooner had the angels left them and gone back into heaven than the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go over to Beit-Lechem and see this thing that has happened, that Adonai has told us about.” Hurrying off, they came and found Miryam and Yosef, and the baby lying in the feeding trough. Upon seeing this, they made known what they had been told about this child; and all who heard were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. Miryam treasured all these things and kept mulling them over in her heart. Meanwhile, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen; it had been just as they had been told.

Luke 2:8-20 (CJB)

            Imagine if the story had gone something like this: Some shepherds are finally sitting down after chasing stupid sheep around the fields outside the city all day. They’d finally got the sheep rounded up and settled down when an angel appears out of nowhere and gets the sheep all riled up. Chaos ensues as the shepherds try to keep the stupid sheep from scattering all over the city. They’re pretty angry with this angel who just upset all the work they’d done. The angel tells them to not be afraid—he’s got great news! The shepherds kindly inform the angel of business hours and tell him they’re not interested in his news. Please leave, they insist, so they can resettle their stupid sheep and get some rest. The angel goes away, news untold. 

            Now, imagine Mary, as these dirty weird shepherds show up to ogle her newly-born son. I’m not sure about you, but strangers who just came out of the field aren’t my idea of great guests to have post-birth. In fact, having any guests post-birth kind of sounds horrible to me. But imagine if Mary was like, “Dudes, I don’t know you. I just gave birth. Kindly go away.” Instead, we find her taking a mental picture of what is happening and holding those memories close. She’s treasuring these horrible visitors! 

            We’d all be pretty stunned to read that story. We’d be thinking these shepherds were idiots! An angel appears, and they’re so concerned about some freaked out sheep they won’t listen to what he even has to say. Yet, if we were in this story, wouldn’t that be how we’d react? We don’t do well with being inconvenienced—especially not this time of year. Sure, we want to help others when it can be planned out and fit in, but we don’t want unexpected interruptions to our masterfully-laid plans. You think I’m wrong? How do people act in shopping malls around this time of year? It’s all merry and bright until it comes down to the last X-box on the shelf. Then, our true colors begin to show. We look at the tiny box shaped glimpses into the lives of others through our social media of choice, and we get a little Scroogey on the inside—wondering why our little box is so lacking. (And then we take a picture and post our own little box, filtered and angled perfectly to make others feel that same way.) Why? Because our hearts are bent and twisted, and we miss the point all too often. 

            This Christmas, let’s not let that inner Scrooge win. Let’s choose to be glad. If you think you cannot choose to be glad, I insist you try it. Decide you’ll be glad, and then try to live that out. See what happens. Choose to rejoice. Choose to be happy with what you have. Choose to look around and see that your little box is perfect for this season. The news of salvation was brought not to the house of the king but to shepherds. Shepherds who were willing to be a little inconvenienced for the sake of something bigger than they were. Shepherds who were willing to let their lives be intruded on. Like Mary, let us look at what is around us and treasure it. Let us look at the Charlie Brown tree and make a mental note of that tree. Let’s not spend our holidays comparing and losing. Let’s just be glad. Even if we think the season is broken this year, let’s be glad. Even if we’re just hoping to get past this season so we can say, “Goodbye,” to one of the worst years most of us have known, let’s be glad. Even if we feel put out by others, let’s be glad. 

Today’s song: It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad! By Sufjan Stevens

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This Advent devotional is written for you, for me. It is a personal devotional for the season of Advent. Advent includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Once Christmas arrives, we’re on to the 12 Days of Christmas—like the song. While I usually write family devotions, this one is intended to be personal; although, you can use it however you like. I’ve intentionally chosen a translation of Scripture that I think you’ll be a little unfamiliar with; I wanted it to read like something new. Sometimes our familiarity with Scripture makes us deaf to what it is saying. If you don’t enjoy the translation I’m using, feel free to look the verses up and read them in your own Bible. I’ve also included a song for each day. I’ve carefully chosen them specifically for each devotional, so I do hope you’ll choose to take the time to listen to them. It is my prayer that in embracing the ordinariness of the season, we’ll find ourselves looking down into the manger and seeing something new in the face of the Baby who came to save us. I pray we’ll not jump ahead to the cross but, instead, sit with our infant King for this season. I pray that this ordinary start to the cycle of the liturgical calendar will be a grounding experience as we move into a new year as His people. Instead of trying to be simple as an apology, I want to embrace it. This is an ordinary December. I’m an ordinary mom. And Jesus still came to save me, and He will meet me here.

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