Waiting for His coming. Or Advent.

 One of these years, I’ll finally get a routine down for Advent. Really. Last year I was in the hospital for a third of December, and this year, I’ve been dealing with Jos’ death… so the Advent wreath didn’t actually have candles until a week ago and they’re not the right colors. I also didn’t actually crack open my Advent/Christmas devotional book until last night. And I haven’t made it to a single Wednesday Advent service at my church. Sad? Yup, but I’m keeping it a hundred with ya’ll.

Despite my shortcomings, I’m really feeling the spirit of the season more than ever. For the non-liturgical, Advent is about preparing for the coming of the Christ child. It’s about preparing in our hearts and minds what Christmas is truly about. It’s also why there’s those little calendars with the doors that open to candy or other little tokens.

With my sister’s death, the hope of the resurrection, the promise of eternal life has become so much more real, so very personal. Please don’t think I viewed all this in the abstract previously; that’s not the case. There’s one thing to hold a belief, and totally another to cling to a certainty through faith. I’m definitely at the second now.