Devotional 12-9-15

Christmas Benchmarks and Advent

All of us have Christmas Benchmarks in our families.  There is the best one, the sad one, or the mediocre one.  All of us hope for the perfect family Christmas.  Movies are made to illustrate the so called “perfect” Christmas. I have been told that my very first Christmas as a child was when the electricity went out and my Dad bought a generator so that I could see the colored lights on the Christmas tree.  Then there was the Christmas when my parents came to visit us in Virginia. Times were difficult then.  I remember that the snow began to fall until all the outside was covered.  The three of us went out on my carport to watch the snow when we saw a large raised star of David on the hood of my Dad’s car. It was midnight on Christmas Eve and I knew the star was a sign that all would be well. Then there was the Christmas when it snowed so much that I was afraid to start out with my two-year-old daughter to drive to Beckley from Northern Virginia.  My Dad rode the train to Alexandria to drive us in my car.  Then there is the sad one when they came to visit us here in Huntington.  My mother went into heart failure while here and died.  All of us have bench marks about Christmas. It took me years to stop grieving about Christmas.  I am sure some of you are probably grieving now. I know that God understands our grief and that time will help.

Advent gives us time to prepare.  It gives us time to forget the past and look to the future.  God’s promise is to give us a savior who is to be born.  God does keep his promises. He wants us to give him control and have faith that the outcome will be desirable. I just read my Devotion from 2000 that I called “Lean on Me” in which I discussed how difficult it was for me to give God control because of my nature.  I had learned over the years to depend on myself.  Now is it fifteen years later, and I no longer feel that way.  As I have grown older and I hope matured, I know that I now put most things in God’s Hands.  I am definitely more at ease and content with doing it. So Advent has become a time of preparation but also a time of peace for me and I hope for all you.

Let us Pray:
Heavenly father, we thank you for your promise.  Your son was born to die for our sins. Let this Advent Season prepare all of us for the receipt of your son.  He is our Christmas Gift from you and we are thankful.
Amen

Carolee Brown