While waiting for the bell to ring this morning, the kindergartners shared some lively conversation about the gifts they are expecting for Christmas. As the excitement grew to fever pitch, one little boy said, "I wish Christmas would come tomorrow!" I smiled sympathetically, imagining the frazzled moms and dads who had just dropped them off. They were likely wishing we could have an extra week of preparation instead. It's a lot of work to make the magical memories those little ones are eagerly anticipating!
As we approach the conclusion of our first week of Advent, it's important to take stock not only of where we are in our shopping-baking-decorating for the coming of Christmas, but, more fundamentally, where we are in our preparation for the coming of Christ. This season marks time in a special way that invites us to come to Christmas with an ever-deepening understanding not only of God's coming into human history. It gives us time to prepare our hearts to welcome Him with an ever more intimate love. And, most important of all, Advent reminds us that Christ will be coming again at the end of time. We're asked to prepare; to be watchful...and to wait for this Second Coming. It takes a lot of intentional effort and patience to make ourselves ready to come to each Christmas more spiritually seasoned than we were the year before.
God came to us "with skin on," because He loves us radically. He could have been anything in the world, but he chose to be a vulnerable baby, an awkward boy, a condemned man; to be a little piece of bread and a tiny drop of wine; to be literally consumed by us in order to be fully one with us. This is the most amazing Christmas gift of all time. Don't forget to share it with your children. Add Advent preparation to your planner...and look with wonder and anticipation to the the heavenly outcome!
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