The opportunity of Christmas

I can be very well intentioned.  But more often than not my good plans seem to not come into fruition.  For the many reasons that may be, this happens often.  I was listening to a podcast the other day with Annie F. Downs and the ladies from She Reads Truth.  They were discussing Advent.  They explained Advent as the time of waiting.  The anticipation for celebrating Jesus’s birth.  I loved that concept.  Anticipating something, someone.  So often this season is spent rushing and doing and buying.  I felt the niggle within, the thought came quickly “How could this season look differently if I were to look at this as the time of anticipating?”

So, I made a plan. I would bring my children into this.  We LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible.  It has been a staple in our household.  It is one of my favorites of all time. The first 25 stories is the story that leads up to Jesus’s birth.  It is great.  One story a day from December 1^st through December 25^th and you have walked through the beautiful journey.  Easy.  This would be a part of our Advent season.

So, today is December 7^th.  We finally started.  Right as planned… 7 days late.  As we sat together and started to read the story, it starts from the beginning, from creation.  The stories show the longing of our hearts, the questions we struggle with, and how Satan- at every twist and turn and chance he gets, speaks lies to us.  The same struggles we face still today, came in at the beginning.

These are HARD concepts. They are hard for adults to process.  They are hard for children to process.  As my children were listening to these stories there were So. Many. Questions.  Good questions like “Do you think that the Garden of Eden is what Heaven will be like?”  Hard questions such as “If God knew that Satan was going to do that and ruin the world for the rest of us, why didn’t he just kill him then?”  “Where did God come from?  When did His life start?  Who created Him?”  There were tears over the heartbreak, the separation, over the sin and the choices that were made.  There was some anger over the outcome- “Why didn’t God just make this stop or step in?  He could have changed things”.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  It is so hard.  All of it.

We read the first 5 stories.  They listened.  They questioned.  They cried.  They responded.  This is deep, big stuff.  They were engaged and began to grasp the larger story at play.  And then at the end, one of my sweet children said “I wish all my friends knew God”.  And I felt so thankful that that was where her heart landed.

 

 

As I put them to bed and prayed with them and kissed their sweet faces it hit me so strongly.  There are many times that I want to present my God to my kids in a certain light.  I want them to love Him.  I don’t want them to live in fear of him- fear Him and His power, yes, but not be afraid of him.  I want them to know how wonderful He is.  I probably tend to lean towards the nicer stories of him, the sweeter side.  But tonight confirmed something big for me.  There is something deep and powerful in God that draws us in.  There is truth that is offered, hope that is given.  Our hearts know that something is not right in the world.  There is more than what is being offered or seen.  Hearing the truth of who God is and how he pursues us, loves us, fights for us, disciplines us, it all points back to answering those deep questions we hold within.  When sin came into the world, lies came with it.  We fight to believe that God’s heart for us is good and that he loves us.  We seek to fill our lives with so many things besides him.

What a beautiful reminder to my heart- God is who He says He is. There is comfort in that.  There was comfort for my kids to see that in this crazy, evil, hurtful world, God has a purpose.  He is not surprised.  It was eye opening for them to see that even when the plan is skewed by us, He can and will make a way and will never stop fighting.  We may not understand his plan, but we can choose to trust that His heart is good.

So in this time of Advent, of anticipation, where are our hearts landing?  I am beginning to see this time as something bigger than just a holiday, but rather an opportunity.  A chance to see God in a new way and to experience his love for us like never before.  Christmas is a chance, a season- to love, to share, to bless, to bring in.  It can look different and exciting. There is truly so much that we still have to anticipate!