First Sunday of Advent.
Nov/090
We had to ready our advent wreath now that the first Sunday of Advent is here. The craft store was out of red and purple candles, but luckily we found some at the neighborhood super store. We finally got some candlestick holders as well, and pulled the artificial wreath out of the closet. It now sits and shines on our coffee table. (Using up the candles from last year first… the non-dripless candles look awesome.)
I love the season of Christmas, but incorporating Advent makes it all the more lovely. Not 1 day but 4 weeks of anticipation, celebration, and great joy. Of course, the joy is subdued when there is waiting. The joy in waiting, it seems, is fueled by hope. Without the hope of a Savior, there could be no joy in that Savior’s coming or the promise of the coming. The hope of Israelites centuries ago is similar to the hope of Christians today – the former hoping in the Messiah’s first coming, the latter in His second.
We’ll leave you with some hopeful passages from Isaiah that we’ll be meditating on this week:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
This is what the LORD says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
-Isaiah 49:6, 8-10
Thanksgiving.
Nov/090
I recently read Treasuring God in Your Traditions by Noel Piper. It was a good read, full of good thoughts and inspiring ideas for infusing celebrations, holidays, and ordinary life with meaningful, God-centered traditions. It seemed fitting to read this as one of the holiday-driven seasons is here – starting with Thanksgiving, then Advent and Christmas. Every year I look forward to this time. I treasure the seasons in my life as a believer, the time to prepare, reflect, sing “new” songs, adorn my home and adore my Savior. I am sad when I don’t have an environment to naturally encourage me in cultivating these meaningful spiritual moments, days, weeks, and seasons, when those seasons aren’t recognized or treasured as well. But regardless of our natural environment, we can personally choose to take the time for this season, and foster its fruitfulness in our lives. So Trevor and I will try to do so, and we invite other sojourners in this world to join us.
Hopefully this season our blog can be a way for us to share what has been meaningful and helpful for us in years past and in the present to grow spiritually and personally. Hopefully you can share what has been meaningful for you, too.
Let’s begin with the spirit of Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving without proper thanks to the One whom all blessings come from is not true Thanksgiving.
I thank God for His blessings, but also for Who He Is.
+ He is the Great I AM.
+ He is the Artist before all artists, the Creator of everything beautiful.
+ He is our Redeemer, having tasted evil and death before us and preparing a place in heaven for us.
+ He is our Light, our Love, our Joy, our Peace. The very things we celebrate and perhaps even seek this time of year, HE is the source of them all, their essence.
+ He is a Comforter, a Guide, a Mighty Fortress, an ever present Help in our times of need.
+ I am thankful He has provided for us, in the little things and the big things. He has provided health, relationships, a house, clothes, food, water, air, warmth, smiles and laughter, travel… heck just about everything!
+ I am thankful that He has allowed us to bless others with our resources – thankful for a little boy, E, in Nicaragua that we sponsor through World Vision and thankful for little girl, M, in Ethiopia who we sponsored just this week through Compassion!
+ I am thankful for a beautiful wedding this past year, and one great marriage to my best friend!
+ I am thankful for getting to own our first home this past year and then fun we’ve had in making it ours.
+ I’m thankful for my niece who became a part of our extended family this past year, she is a real joy!
+ I’m thankful that we got to celebrate and witness many other unions of our friends; it was always a great reason to celebrate their joys and to remember our own!
+ I’m thankful for the friends who have been there for us. Their time, love, and prayers have been invaluable. I think you know who you are.
And now, Trevor will post his thanksgivings:
I am thankful for God this season because:
+ He is my hope in a world that can feel hopeless
+ He is my strength, my encouragement, my source for everything true
+ He is my model and goal for true love, true service, and true life
+ He is infinitely gracious
+ He has freed me to become authentic, and to become like Him
I am thankful this year because:
+ I found the woman my soul loves and became her husband
+ We have been blessed with every need (a home, jobs, friends and family) and many desires (travel, entertainment)
+ I am getting to know my niece (first time being an uncle!) and loving her more-and-more each day
+ We have been able to give so much away (money, time, possessions) and been rewarded with every act of love and generosity
+ We’re just now entering my favorite season of the year, with my favorite holidays — and a new year approaches
2009 has been full of new experiences, varied challenges, and seems to be the most real year to-date. As I learn more about my place in this world, learn more about sharing that place with my mate, and learn more about living life with others, the veils and masks and layers seemed to get peeled away to reveal truth and beauty in the mix. It’s wonderful.
Thanks to everyone who continues to read this blog. We love seeing comments pop up here-and-there. We hope 2010 will continue to be a year full of revelations and adventures we can share with you virtually and, God-willing, in person.
Busyness.
Nov/090
Things have been quiet around here, as you’ve undoubtedly noticed. We went directly from the time-intensive lifestyle of travel into a more local, but just as time-consuming, period of daily things-to-do. Granted, many of the things we occupy our time with are very worthwhile: time spent with friends, date nights, evenings at home relaxing (reading, or watching movies from Netflix). But, for me at least, I’ve learned the measure of time, and what we do with it, is an incredibly important thing.
As humans, we live in space and time, and therefore must take account for it. I don’t own a watch, and love days where I never look at my phone and have no specific agenda. But, time still passes.
I have learned that whatever we say “Yes” to, we automatically say “No” to everything else. Try as we might, we’re only semi-capable multi-taskers. There is a limit to our ability to do. It can be frustrating, or liberating.
Kristi and I are all about simplicity — and we’re beginning to realize that our time is in need of “restructuring.” Many of the things we’d love to do, we don’t. And many things that are fun to do, but maybe not as beneficial, we fill our time with. We want to be healthy in every aspect of life — so we’re looking at our days and making choices to fill them with the right things.
What do you spend your time on? Is there anywhere you’re currently saying “Yes” that you need to, at least once, say “No” (or vice-versa)?
One thing that’s worthy of taking time for, is finding out what you’re taking time for. It’s best to use every resource you have as wisely as possible — and there are few as valuable as time.
10K Training
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Trevor's Training Mileage:
Good Reads
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Trevor's read shelf: