Driving the other night, Seamus said to me, as he looked at the huge full moon on the horizon, “Mom, do you know that the moon and all the stars and sky around it seem like paper to me?” “Why is that?” I asked. “Because it doesn’t look like it can be real.” He explained. Wow. This is profoundly true for all of us. Sometimes God feels so far away, he might as well be a picture on a page.
Advent is a time of waiting, of lighting, one by one, candles that represent the light of the world that came into our darkness. The days and weeks before Jesus’ actual birth were a dark time in history, sinful and scary and anxious. We must remember this is exactly WHY Jesus was coming! For us, who KNOW the story already, there is the light of HOPE at the end. Not the END, but the very BEGINNING!
So it is on this HOPE that I focus. I keep my eyes on the light, no matter how far away it seems sometimes. The new star that appeared that night and has never left us in all these thousands of years. The Star of Bethlehem, the beginning of a new life and the fulfillment of a promise God made to us so long before.
The knowledge of God’s love for us keeps us as we go through all the usual activities of our lives; Grif as a sophomore in Cross Country, Robotics and he’s driving! Morgan is in 8th grade, is in the Social Studies and Sign Language Clubs, is co-VP in Student Council and is obsessed with Harry Potter. Hale plays the cello when he’s not reading mysteries, playing Lego Universe or collecting owls, and Seamus sports the mis-matched smile of a 2nd grader where he reads voraciously and makes Lego creations he leaves all over the houseJ. I am grateful beyond measure for these children. They are my top priority as I build my health & fitness business, working toward my personal training certificate in early 2012..
I urge you all, and myself, to reach out to the love of God as we read the Christmas story for the umpteenth time. Touch its realness. Fold it up and tuck it into your heart. Then, no matter how things are, you will be able to look at this miracle of Christmas, this truth and KNOW that God loves you.
Be filled with peace always.
What an interesting perspective from Seamus. It reminds me to have an attitude of gratitude for all that the Lord has done and is still doing in my life. (And to thank Him for the beauty of nature--the full moon, the stars, and so much more!)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the update on your family. God bless your family and your business in the coming year. Donna Becker