December is loaded for me.
This one month of the year has been infused with diagnoses and death and waiting with expectation, only to have those expectations dashed. It was Christmas Eve, years ago, that I was planning to unveil the secret to Nate. I thought for sure I was pregnant. All signs were a “go.” That day revealed the truth. Another silly-little plastic test in the trash. This was only one of many cold Decembers.
So late November found me bracing myself. Did I really have to live this month all over again?
Enter advent. Advent means both He has arrived and He is coming. Advent is my life and it’s yours, too. It is both a celebration of Him, now, and waiting for Him to come.
What turned my bleak Decembers around, just a few years ago, was lighting a little fire on the inside — despite the bitter cold around me. Adoration: choosing to speak His Word about Him to my heart, and back to Him, and letting that very Word become a bigger reality than the circumstances in front of me. Up the stairs and over laundry and while I wash the dishes — I can adore Him through all of those otherwise-dormant minutes.
And there’s no better time to start this little habit of adoration than advent. This is the season where we declare to ourselves, each other, and back to Him the truth that our flesh resists: He has arrived and He is coming.
Grab a friend, link arms, and look at Him together this advent.
Join us over here, day-by-day.
Or download a daily adoration guide for yourself.
Breathe on the spark and let that little flame define you more than the bite of winter around you.
Photos compliments of Mandie Joy.
