Sunday, December 3, 2006

I’ve had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I went through all the motions. I picked my card design this summer and had all of them made by mid-November. I wrote my Christmas letter in October, and the whole card project was complete before Thanksgiving (including signing and addressing). I planned a few parties, signed up to attend a few more, made my shopping list, and even spent three days decorating the whole house, complete with five trees. I’ve listened to Christmas music at work and in the car, and I’ve begun taking in as many Hallmark and Lifetime made-for-TV-Christmas-movies as I can stomach.

And still…blah.

I thought maybe it was the single bug biting. Sending in an RSVP for one at parties and signing one little name on a card can eventually get the best of even the most spirited Christmas lover. Collapsing on the bed after lugging around an entire attic of Christmas boxes alone can give a rather painful reminder that no one is around to help. And while I do my best to not dwell on that (and usually succeed) – it can worm its way in now and then.

So last week as I did the same old same old at my desk sometime between 8 and 5, I heard a radio spot by one of the ladies on staff at Proverbs 31 Ministries. She talked about a woman who incorporated a daily advent reading into her first Christmas together with her husband. Aside from the memories of her first Christmas as a married woman, she always cherished that extra measure of worship she incorporated through that reading.

Hmmm…Advent. More than just an extra ten minutes in Sunday morning’s service while someone in a bathrobe and a towel tied around his head lights a candle? More than just a piece of chocolate hiding behind a cardboard number?

I decided that maybe Advent is just what I need. Not the bathrobe and towel version…not the chocolate version. A study version. I have committed to spending at least ½ hour – and much more than that if I can – in extra Bible study for these 25 days. I’m doing a little writing project that you might see more of later.

I’m only 3 days in, and I have to say that the Spirit has arrived. I’m thoroughly enjoying Christmas! In fact, I can’t wait to sit down each day and think over my designated Scripture and see what new things I can learn! And I am learning. God always points the spotlight on something new in even the most familiar story – if you’re willing to sit long enough to look for it.

Last weekend, on my way up north, I listened to a new CD, courtesy of my friend, Marie. She has introduced me to the music of Todd Agnew – and this year he released his first Christmas CD. One song in particular made me cry, because it put Joseph in a light I’ve not seen him in before. And this is what has allowed me to look at Advent the way I am this year.

The song is called "This is All I Have to Give" and it shares a list of things that perhaps Joseph had dreamed he could give his son - and then his Son ended up being a Child he couldn't even fully understand.

We’re all Josephs of sorts. We sit around and feel like we don’t have much to offer – but He’ll take whatever we do have to offer and count it a gift. We don’t have to understand it – we just have to be willing.

And if you haven't heard the Todd CD, it's called Do You See What I See? Definitely worth checking out!!!