keep my eyes and heart open
to signs of your coming.
May I be joyously expectant,
seeing your coming
in a million ways.
Amen."
--Beth A. Richardson
"The Uncluttered Heart"
It's not something that just happens. Without focus and choices and planning, Advent can simply be another word on the Christian calender. For sure, my list of shopping and cards and decorating and gatherings is rather lengthy, and can at times be overwhelming. Which is why, before I even start making my way through the maze of this season, I want to be steadfast about the deeper meaning. I want my soul to be awake and alive to the God "who is coming". And if I leave this all to happenstance, I know the days will rush by me, and I will arrive on Christmas Day, the day I celebrate His birth, and I will have missed "seeing his coming in a million ways".
I know He is here, woven throughout my days, sometimes in obvious ways, and at other times, seemingly hidden. That is, unless I am watching and listening and still and aware. Today He showed up in a "chance" conversation, in a young woman's laughter, in the heaping pile of blessedness He dumps on me.
On a whim, I decorated the inside of my home on Friday evening. The nostalgic beauty of decorations brought out of hiding, the familiar sounds of Christmas music, the flicker of candles and the shadows of lights, all serve to remind me that He is coming.
I am joyously expectant.
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