The Season of Perpetual Hope

See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness; Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

-Mark 1:3

Welcome to the season of Advent! As we prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, we celebrate this season by making Advent Wreaths and lighting an additional candle each Sunday to be a reminder of the anticipated promise of hope. This past Sunday we had one of the largest turnouts for our Annual Advent Wreathmaking Event. It may be because we added warm baked cookies from our new Parish Hall kitchen for the kids to decorate! Although I think that definitely had something to do with it, I also believe that the dawn of the season brings many together in joy and giving thanks for all that it means.

I visited with many of those making wreaths and found that we all shared a common feeling after recently celebrating Thanksgiving and gathering with family and friends. The feeling of overwhelming thankfulness for all our blessings. We have many blessings in this life and as we await the coming of Jesus let us remember and cherish those around us. Many times, we are given opportunities to experience life, and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season makes us sometimes think we are too busy. I think to experience life we must become comfortable with the power of YES to those things that we might not usually do but put ourselves out there to really live.

An invitation was texted to me just before Thanksgiving, please come join us! My hometown of New Bern, NC is four and a half hours by car and when this invitation came my immediate rational thought was to say I really want to but it’s too far. To which the reply was, you know there are several flights a day here. Jump on a last-minute flight for about 36 hours? What? I don’t do these things, but… I had miles and it wasn’t that many, so… I did it! What resulted was one of the most meaningful times of my life.

Many of you know I lost my best friend in August and the invitation was from her sister and husband. I spent much of the time with her family with laughs, some tears, memories, and meaningful time talking. It turns out I really needed this as much as they did and I know she is smiling. It also gave me some quality time with my other two closest friends and their families. Needless to say, as I returned to host the Advent Wreath event, my cup runneth over.

As we await his coming in glory, let us remember the reason for the season and the power of YES to all the things that will fill our cup. The season of giving and perpetual hope is upon us; how will you choose to spend it?