First Week of Advent = Hope

The holiday season is full of traditions. One of my favorite is eating pie for breakfast on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. My uncle started the tradition so that he could enjoy dessert and not be stuffed from dinner. We loved it as kids and enjoy it now as adults even more! Matt's favorite tradition as a child was listening to Santa Clause is Coming to Town on Christmas Eve and then running and jumping into bed. He now loves reading to our children, chasing them and tucking them in. William and Grace love opening Christmas books each evening leading up to Christmas Day. I wrap the same books over and over each year, but they love them like they are brand new. A few years ago, as a family, we started a new tradition. We light a traditional advent wreath each night for the entire month prior to Christmas. We start the first week with one candle and then each week adds a candle until the 5th and final candle is lit on Christmas Eve. This past Sunday was the start of our "count down" to Christmas. Advent just means "the coming" or "the arrival of the awaited". Yes, we do play Santa Clause and hang stockings, but we wanted a real tangible concrete way to keep our focus on the real reason we celebrate. Each evening, the kids take turns lighting the candle(s) (and blowing it out - which is still super fun at this age!) and using our plastic manger scene to tell the story of Christ's birth. Matt reads a passage of scripture, and we all sing a Christmas Hymn or two. It is so fun to watch the kids' knowledge of the scriptures grow. Each year, they are able to tell more and more of the story. We have to cut William off most of the time because he wants to focus too long on the Old Testament prophecies and continue the story past the fleeing to Egypt! Grace wants to add to the story and talk about "Mary picking berries, and the Shepards chasing sheep and singing in the fields!' However, we try to use all of that to add to our fun as a family and focus on the love of the Father and the precious gift of Christ. This week we are lighting the candle of HOPE. Charles Revson, the founder of the cosmetic empire, Revlon, said that what he sold was hope. "Hope happens when someone sees something, decides that it is desirable, realizes that they may not get it, but believes that there is still a chance of getting it." In other words, the world's way of looking at hope is "wishful thinking". The scriptures teach us differently. A more biblical definition of hope is "confident expectation". Proverbs 23:18 Tells us that there is a hope for us. Hebrews 11 tells us that our faith comes by being sure of what we hope for. Romans 8 tells us in hope we are saved. Matthew 12 tells us that the nations will find their hope in Christ. We can have a confident expectation (hope) that what God said He would do - HE DID; what God promises to do in the future - HE WILL DO! Praise the Lord for the salvation that He gives us through His son and the hope that He gives of a life and relationship eternally with Him.
Confidently Expecting! AT