Please read Psalm 96
What is new for you this Advent season?
I’m experiencing a new Advent this year because I am retired. Even though I still work with my husband Tim at St. Matthew, it’s only about 10 hours a week, and I have no huge responsibilities (some might say headaches) like most pastors have. We have bought a house here in Weston, which is where we grew up, and hope to be in it by Thanksgiving. (I’m writing this on Halloween.) These are new things that are good.
There are some new things that are not so good. Tim’s father died in April, so this will be the first holiday season without him. We will miss him terribly. I continue to struggle with both thyroid and breast cancer. I stopped taking chemo for the thyroid cancer a couple of months ago, because it made me so very sick. I will start a new kind in December.
Change and newness are true for everybody. What we celebrate at Christmastime is that God is with us through all the changes in our lives. God’s presence is eternal. God does not change, but is there for us in every situation in which we find ourselves. He rejoices with us when we rejoice and comforts us when we are troubled. In the worst times, God brings hope.
The reality of God with us in human form is what we celebrate at Christmas. Have a blessed one!
Rev. Dorcas Conrad
St. Matthew United Methodist Church. Weston, WV
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