Advent

Advent is a time of preparation - of anticipation. If you’ve ever waited for, prepared for or otherwise anticipated the arrival of a new baby, then you “get” Advent.

The Christmas season requires a lot of preparation - from buying gifts to decorating the house to preparing the holiday feast to rehearsing for Christmas services. But I think we often get so caught up in that preparation, that we forget what we are really preparing for - the remembrance of our Savior’s birth.

As I prepare for my daughter’s birthday each year (which is not too far away from when we celebrate the birth of Jesus), I find myself remembering the accomplishments of the past year - how much she has changed and grown - and I also remember her birth and everything that led up to it.

As we prepare for Christmas, we as Christians should also take time out from the craziness to reflect not only on the Savior’s birth, but on our own rebirth in baptism. We should reflect on how our relationship with our Father has grown and changed over the past year. And we should also reflect on how we can make that relationship even better in the new year.

Why did we choose to be baptized? Why do we continue to listen to God’s word? How has His presence in our life changed us for the better? What can we do to listen to him more carefully and follow him more closely? And most importantly, I think, how can we make the time to reflect on these things in a season that is so chaotic and busy?

I need to remind myself of that today, when I am especially stressed out and overwhelmed. It’s not about giving gifts and putting up decorations. It’s about remembering who I am and how I got here and how I can be an example of God’s love in my daily life.

I’m going to try and answer some of the questions I asked above over the next few days - to make myself stop and reflect and take time to remember what’s really important at this time of the year. Feel free to reflect along with me.