journeys-page

There are only 10 shopping days until Christmas! All the stores are out of that one and only things your child (or grandchild) wants for Christmas. Have you mailed your Christmas cards yet? Have these words been uttered or screamed in your house? “Where did all that wrapping paper go from last year?” “Has anyone seen the tape?” “What did we do with the scissors?” Uncle John moved again. Do we have his new address?” All the neighbors have their lights up.  When are we going to put up ours?” “Do we have any replacement bulbs for these green strings of lights?” “I think we blew a fuse.” Advent is the season of anticipation, expectation . . .and panic. There is so much to be done on top of the regular stuff. And the days still have just 24 hours in them. Our nostalgia tells us to do all those things that made us feel good in the past. Our sweet tooth tells us to eat all those goodies that will make us feel good now. Our sense of responsibility tells us that family, friends, co-workers, the mail man, the newspaper delivery person, all our children’s teachers and Sunday School teachers need some sort of gift to be wrapped and delivered sometime before December 25th. Our faith tells us that Christmas comes down to one thing: God loves us so much that God comes to be one of us. God’s love overflows into the gift of a baby that would grow up to save us from ourselves. And because God gives, we give too. So, before you get totally overwhelmed by the season, take a moment to stop the madness. Take a deep breath, close your eyes and receive the gift of peace from God. Take God’s love and it will overflow into the patience and endurance you will need to make it through Christmas day and beyond. Grace & Peace,