The sun rises over our little valley home the same as it
does over the ocean and this morning I spent some time watching this familiar
horizon fill in with amber and violet and longing. We drove ten hours to get
home on Saturday, snarled in game traffic around Charlottesville--caught up in
fans and travelers alike. We unpacked a tired van and left the suitcases in the
kitchen floor and closed weary eyes and woke up Sunday morning to Advent. My
neighbors have their Christmas decorations up and the mums on my front porch
are brown and withered and the thick of night falls earlier each eve.
I am behind on life again.
Near the end of our holiday my husband took my hand and
said, “Thank you for putting up with my family.”
I blinked and without thinking said, “They are my family
too.”
There were ten of us in that beach house and it was cozy and
suffocating all at the same time and the way I was forced outside of myself
seems a fitting way to enter this waiting.
Last night we gathered at our church to decorate for
Christmas—The Hanging of the Greens, we call it. The Pastor held up the
Chrismon ornaments and we talked about the symbols of our faith.
She prayed:
Lord, as we dress the
church for the season, we also dress our hearts to prepare for the One is
coming—who is, who was, who always will be…
I’m dressing my heart in its finest, sweet friends. Let’s
wait together.
How do you embrace the God-joy? Every Monday I’ll
be sharing one of my Playdates with God. I would
love to hear about yours. It can be anything:
outside, quiet time. Maybe it’s solitary. Maybe
it’s loud and crowded. Just find Him. Be with Him.
And come tell us about it.
If you'd like to join in The High Calling Community's Advent Writing project, jump over here to my friend Charity's blog and read all about it!
Grab my button at the bottom of the page and join us:
Sharing with L.L. Barkat today also:
And with Lindsay for Messy Mondays.
21 comments:
I so know the feeling of being behind! I'm with you on dressing my heart for the season and preparing it for the ONE! Thanks for sharing!
...written with a light heart and hand
"I am behind on life again." Wonderful sentence. I love that you recognize it and are dressing your heart for the season.
what everyone else said. :)
Oh, but maybe you are right where you need to be. Maybe there's no such thing as being behind on what is forever
Love you. :)
I think there's something rich about coming weary to Advent.
Behind seems to be where I stay. There was a time in my life when I was always ahead and now I can't even keep up. So thankful GOD is with me every step of the way! Thanks for always posting just what I need.
Hugs, love, and prayers,
andrea
"Behind on life"... me too :) I want my heart dressed and ready to. So, if that means I'm always behind on life, so be it!
I love that idea: of dressing my heart for Christmas. I'm going make a conscious effort this season to think of my heart when I dress.
And...I almost cried when I read your comment, 'They're my family too." So true. I just spent a week with my mother n law just because....she's my family now too
Dressing our hearts for Him. That reminds me of what others often say, about preparing our hearts to receive him something like the manger received the Savior all those years before, in the outskirts of Bethlehem.
Dress our hearts...I love that! And that is my prayer, too.
It's got to be tough traveling over Thanksgiving and not feeling behind, with Advent directly around the corner! Blessings this season.
amen to all of this Laura.
This post really spoke to my heart -- like you, we were away for a blessed Thanksgiving, now "behind" on the season, but reminding myself that God's timing is always perfect!
I felt like that last week. :o)
This is my toughest season. Really, all the holidays are. I just don't know how to do them. So I delay.
Each year decorating our church is a dread task. I was relieved this year when another ministry team accidentally thought they were responsible, when really, it was my team. But this "hanging of the greens" -- the act of decorating being part of the Advent practice. This could change that dread for me.
Welcome home, friend. Catch up slowly. Life waits.
I have decided not to fret about being behind (I so often am.). I have decided to try to slow and embrace the moment and look for Him. There has been so much going on, and it just does me in. My heart needs the quiet and the waiting. I'm joining you Laura.
I love this church tradition...together preparing for Him. It sounds just perfect:}:} Advent is amazing to really enter:}
Dressing your heart for him... i want that.
Time doesn't know you are behind. You are where you are...it's your own time zone. His timing for you. Just right... like Goldilocks. =)
Not to discount how you feel, how we all feel when tired out by "vacation." Blessings and a hug as you breathe deeply. =)
I wish we were neighbors, then you'd seem my brown mums and lack of Christmas decor. Maybe we'd both feel on time. Driving through town today I wondered when Christmas became a race. I like your perspective here.
When I was growing up our church ladies made Chrismon ornaments....large ones for a VERY large tree placed close to the front of the church. I miss some of those traditions. Never behind....right on time for you and your family...what God ordains for your days. All that really matters is our abiding with Him.
It's funny, my wife and I both say that to each other: "I'm so sorry about my family..."
Hey, who of us is immune from a whacky family of origin? :)
So lovely, as always Laura. Your words always quiet my hurried, harried mind. Love you...
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