Advent

Days like this I try to remember the promises of God. I remember the powerful sermon I heard yesterday from Isaiah 11...."a shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse." God's plans for us are not thwarted by our daily tragedies whether great or small. His promises and truth are secure, I am secure in Him. Jesus was promised to a world aching for renewal. A world that was waiting for some unkown Savior who was promised. Every year at Advent I am reminded that although Jesus has come we are still waiting. Waiting for Christ to return, to put an end to the insipid violence the dark hopelessness that swallows so many. In our waiting we can find hope in the Word of God and in the promised Messiah. The small child who carried the hopes and fears of the world inside of Him.

I see how easy it is to let my joy fall by the wayside, how quickly I let love dissolve because of an unkind word or misunderstanding. I must choose joy if this life is to be full and have meaning, if I am to learn to love others well. My life has been full of blessing and beauty. I have more than I could ever want or need. Above all I know I have been given a great gift, I have been loved so well by the people in my life. I have been loved so perfectly by my Heavenly Father. Now I have this awesome opportunity to give that same love to my son. My prayer is that he would grow strong and sure in himself and in his place in God's heart. It is often bewildering to me, the intense love and emotion I feel for Benjamin. I did not know my heart could feel this deeply, that once he entered my life it was as if he had always been in it. I look at his face and I see the reflection of of God's love, and I fall even deeper. Amazing. I am experiencing the mystery of Christ and His incarnation all over agin. Jesus came as a small dependant child. The first child for His own mother. Her love for Him however imperfect and human was deep and overwhelming. At the moment of His birth Mary was transformed, and later would be again after His death and resurrection. I look at Benjamin and I see the light of God. I see how I am also a small weak child in constant need of direction of His strong firm arms to hold and comfort me, to remind me that I am wanted, that I belong.