advent.ure

It’s a marvelous season. No two ways around it. I walked up our first flight of stairs tonight and immediately felt the glow of the Christmas lights welcoming me home. What a fantastic tradition it is to have miniature lights flickering inside and outside the house. It’s as if someone knew that extra light would be needed due to the ungodly hour the sun sets these days. This afternoon, I sat with a friend and drank a chai tea out of a red cup while the fire crackled behind us. Warmth in my soul battled the chilly Wheaton air, while sweet conversation lengthened the minutes and put a halt to the hurry. I. Love. Christmastime.

We’re right in the middle of celebrating advent. This year, more so than my twenty-four others, I’m struck by the magnitude of anticipation and giddy expectance linked to the coming King. So much so, that the adventure of expectation is popping up all around me. Similar to the theme of redemption over Easter, these days, it’s as if advent is the genre of music attached to the soundtrack of my life.

When I’m quiet enough to get away from my daily tasks and present enough to tune into the spirit, I think about a world stuck without the free gift of grace, chained without the freeing streams of mercy, and trapped without the true hope of glory. It must have felt dark. It must have felt lonely. It must have felt incomplete.

Yesterday I got to witness something miraculous. A young lady, who saw this world as dark, felt alone in her struggles and longed for genuine completion prayed to receive an early Christmas present. The gift of God’s never-ending mercy and revitalizing hope was hers, wrapped beautifully in His perfect timing. The coming king came right on time, and advent 2011 will forever be remembered as the day her adventure began. That, my friends, is a waiting game that never gets old.

Advent is Latin for coming. And whether you’re awaiting a vacation, a proposal, a grade, an answer, or even a new-born king, it’s coming. Advent is a special reminder to be content in the coming and excited in the midst of expectation. How sweet it will be when that day is here, but for now, I’m delighting in the days leading up to. Slowly learning to celebrate the wait.