Advent

Advent - It is the time of year when we remember that Christ has come and is coming again. The first time he came as a baby, born in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn. We've heard the story many times. Emmanuel, God with us. Today I have been trying to wrap my mind around the fact that the God who created everything by speaking came to us in the form of a baby. Maybe it is more real to me this year because I have a baby. How humbling. The very God who needs nothing came to us and was dependent for everything. When I start to think that God doesn't understand, I am quickly reminded that he actually does. God became man in the form of Jesus. He was a baby, a child, an adolescent, and an adult. He understands.

Advent also reminds us that Jesus is coming again. His second coming will be very different than his first. Jesus said that the Son of Man will come in the clouds with great power and glory (Mark 13:26). In I Thessalonians 4:16 Paul said that "the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God" (wonder what that will sound like). Peter also had something to say about the second coming:

2 Peter 3:8-18

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a]

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

God waits because he desires that no one would perish but that everyone would come to repentance. So often God's character is misunderstood. He is not eager to judge. Instead he waits in order that everyone would have opportunity to repent.

Waiting is often difficult. Today I had the opportunity to give a testimony of thanksgiving at church about Lydia Hope. The first advent candle is the candle of hope. We can have hope because God is faithful and will keep the promises made to us. Our hope comes from God. Our testimony of Lydia starts over two years ago when I had a miscarriage. God had spoken to us that we needed to believe for life even though the doctors were telling us that we had lost the baby. So we did. We prayed and had others join with us and believed until the very end that God could breathe life into that little baby. Even as I was miscarrying, Seth was praying that God would let that baby live. How I love the man God has given me to walk beside! As I lay in bed praying for God's comfort afterwards, he spoke a clear word to me: HOPE. Seth and I love Steven Curtis Chapman, and some lyrics from one of his songs came into my head:

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...

That word of hope sustained me for the next 16 months as we waited for God to give us a child. It was almost a year ago that we found out we were pregnant. I know that people have waited much longer than that. I have dear friends who I pray for regularly that God would give them a child because they have been waiting for years. I am not claiming to be the expert on waiting because I am not. But God did a work in my heart during those months to cause me to really believe that he is indeed faithful to his promises. At the time I didn't understand how God had spoken a word of life yet I experienced death in the natural. As I hold Lydia, I now know what he meant when he spoke "life." It tastes better now. The wait was worth it. I've written this before, but I am writing it again because God tells us to recount what he has done. When we don't recount what he has done in our lives, we forget. We decided that we wanted to be surprised and not find out if we were having a boy or a girl (which I highly recommend - very fun in the delivery room). Early on we decided that if we had a girl her middle name would be Hope because this baby was the fulfillment of God's promise to us. How sweet it is now that she is here, and we are constantly reminded by her name that God is faithful to his promises. As she grows up, we will tell her just that - Your name is a reminder that our God is faithful to his promises. Sorry to sound repetitive, but I don't want to forget even for a second!

Advent. Although I did not really celebrate it growing up, it has become a time that is very special to me. As Seth and I think about what we want to pass on to Lydia (and more children to come), advent has a greater significance to us. I have to admit that I have had a tension in my heart regarding Christmas. Our faith is grounded in the fact that God came to earth in the person of Jesus, and we celebrate his birth every Christmas. Yet our culture becomes somewhat crazy during this time of year. At times, it seems like Christmas is about a lot of other things besides Jesus. We have had to ask ourselves questions like: do we have Santa, or do we not have Santa? I was a teacher. Not having Santa means that my child might be the one who tells another child that Santa isn't real. On the other hand, having Santa means that my child's understanding of what the real truth of who God is may be postponed. More than anything else in this world, we want Lydia to know God's character from the earliest age possible. Seth and I want to consider every choice we make regarding our children in light of what we believe about God. On this first day of advent, the tension has faded and my heart is becoming settled. I don't think that I can articulate my thoughts better than what Noel Piper wrote in her book, 

Treasuring God in Our Traditions:

First, I think children are glad to realize that their parents, who live with them all year and know all the worst things about them, still show their love at Christmas. Isn't that better than a funny, old make-believe man who drops in just once a year?

Second, our children know our family's usual giving patterns for birthdays and special events. They seem to have an instinct about our typical spending levels and abilities. Knowing that their Christmas gifts come from the people they love, rather than from a bottomless sack, can help diminish the "I-want-this, give-me-that" syndrome.

And, finally, when children know that God's generosity is reflected by God's people, it tends to encourage a sense of responsibility about helping make Christmas good for others.

So, instead of beating around the bush, I'm just going to say it. We're not going to ask our kids to believe in Santa. That being said, I still have my Santa candy dish that I'm planning to continue to decorate with. I grew up with Santa, and I liked it. I don't think Santa is evil, and I won't judge other people, even other Christians, who choose to have Santa. Seth and I are both thankful for the ways in which our families chose to celebrate Christmas (with Santa in both cases). But for our family, our desire is that our children would always look back and know that Christmas is about Jesus - about how he came and how he is coming again. And our prayer is that our children will be thankful for this tradition of focusing on advent and that as a result they will not feel that they missed out on anything.

This is the first of more posts to come regarding advent. We are excited about creating traditions for our family, and I can't wait to share them with you. I also have several posts to come about our Thanksgiving holiday.

Comments are welcome!