If we believe—truly believe—that God has a good plan, even when we don’t understand, then we will believe that despite our pain and the incomprehensible suffering around us, this story is ultimately one of restoration. This is not a story of devastation or pain or suffering or evil, though it holds those elements; this is a story of redemption. This is God’s story!
What if we could touch it and understand it? The real hope of Christmas. Peace like we'll know in heaven. What if Christmas wishes like in the movies really did come true?
And people got along.
And reached for peace and grace and faith.
My mother did a great job at Advent and creating traditions. We had candles we lit every night, Bible verses we recited every evening, an advent calendar, and many other things that created a wonder land of excitement leading up to Christmas day! Her children, in turn, have all created our own advent traditions including calendars, wreathes, activities, and so on.
Guest post by Allie de Graaf
Where are you today? Are you shopping for Christmas? In a cubicle counting down the hours? Caring for your little loves at home? Tending to a sick loved one in the hospital? And in the midst of that, where is your heart?
While I think we would all love for our hearts to be quietly enjoying Advent, preparing for the celebration of Christ’s coming, many of us may be in a place of anxiety with all that the holidays mean. Perhaps we feel that life is more than we can handle and that preparing for a busy Christmas season is simply too much.
Guest post by Rebecca VanDeMark
The beautiful Christmas Carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1863, came after a series of personal tragedies occurred in his life. First, in the early 1860s, an unusual heat wave had struck Massachusetts, which affected Longfellow’s family. This prompted Fanny, his wife, to trim the hair of their 7-year-old daughter to help her feel cooler. Sentimentally, Fanny decided to seal the locks of hair with wax, but tragically, hot wax spilled onto her dress and caught on fire. Henry unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the fire with a blanket, and then tried stopping the fire by throwing himself on his wife, which resulted in his face, arms, and hands being burned. Heartbreakingly, Fanny Longfellow died the following morning from her injuries and was buried 3 days later on their 18th wedding anniversary. Due to his own severe burns, Henry wasn’t able to attend her funeral, but later was recorded as saying a line from his famous hymn, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.
