Tag: holidays

A Season of Anticipation

 

I’m somewhat of a country girl. 🙂 I grew up on a long, dead-end street where it took about fifteen minutes to get to the nearest convenience store. But I didn’t mind. It was what I was used to, and I learned to love many things about living in that area.

Today was a little different, as I had to go into the city for a doctor’s appointment. Now there’s nothing wrong with the city–I enjoy visiting once in a while, and there are many benefits for those who live there. But it’s just not my usual surroundings! So I felt quite out of place. A little nervous, a little uneasy…especially while driving.

On my way home from my appointment, I found myself looking for familiar landmarks. Something, ANYTHING, that would make me feel like I was getting close to home. I anticipated the turns I made onto each street, and celebrated when I caught sight of a store or a building that I recognized. I was looking forward to what was to come: reaching my familiar surroundings!

Photo credit: Jamie Trueblood, AP

I’m sure that there must have been great anticipation that led up to the birth of Christ. As different events occurred, people must have gotten more and more excited for what was to come. As all of the prophesies fell into place, a sense of eagerness probably grew to meet this Christ child.

Are you cultivating a sense of anticipation this Christmas season? Are you being mindful of what the season represents, and what it means for those who know Jesus as Savior, and for the rest of the world?

I ask myself this, and I pray that I will savor this special time of remembrance. That I will make time for stillness, for thoughtfulness, for quietness of mind and heart.

That I will make room for the Savior in my everyday moments. I don’t want this time to pass me by.

Will you share in this sense of anticipation with me by remembering Christ’s birth? Will you take time to consider what He ultimately came to do on this earth? Let us be filled will awe and amazement at the wonder of our gracious Father, who sent His only Son to redeem us, so that we can spend eternity in His loving presence.

Kitty Under the Christmas Tree

It’s been an interesting several weeks! I’ve started a new medicine and am waiting to see how I will respond to it. I’ve had some other health issues that have been annoying, but they are being taken care of, so I am thankful. And I can’t believe that the month of December is actually here. Christmas will arrive before we know it!

I want to really be mindful this holiday season. It’s so easy to get caught up in the presents and the decorating and even the family gatherings (none of which are bad things). But I want to focus in on Jesus and His birth this Christmas. I want to take the time to be still. To listen for once in a while, instead of talking. To use my ears instead of my mouth.

I hope to find some kind of advent idea for blog posts that will help me to be able to do this. But even with this desire for writing blog posts about advent, I could get caught up in the craziness. So I just want to be able to share–when I can–from my heart, about what God is teaching me. Hopefully as I share this it can be encouraging to someone else, as well!

To end this post I’d like to send greetings from my kitty, Misty, who loves to lounge under the Christmas tree. We haven’t even gotten the tree decorated yet, but she’s already found her spot underneath on the tree skirt, where she can blend in with several early Christmas presents that we have received.

I hope that each of you has a Blessed holiday season, and that the remembrance of Christ and what He has done for us will leave a lasting and an invigorating impression on our minds and hearts. ❤