Winter is coming...

The air has a bite to it. The leaves are almost all gone. Winter is coming...And with it my favourite season of the whole year: Advent.

I love Advent so much; I could probably do without Christmas day. I find so much room inside me to wonder and meditate on the truths and mysteries of Emmanuel and all that Advent hints at and points toward. Come, Lord Jesus.

Jesus coming to earth and embodying compassion so that when I experience pain and ridicule and discouragement, He is there to have experienced it all before me. Jesus coming to earth to embody justice so that when I wonder how to love and serve those in my community and world, He is there to demonstrate what love is. Jesus coming to earth and dying and rising so that when everything feels hopeless and beyond repair, He is there to offer forgiveness and new life and trustworthy promises. Really, four weeks is not long enough to meditate on the miracle of Christmas!

I want and plan to do a number of things to celebrate and mark Advent: meditations, candle lighting, some sort of "outreach" each week and hopefully some blog post for each week and its theme. We'll see. Last year I learnt so much about joy and fearlessness. I have some ideas for this year, but I'm sure that God does too for me; some powerful lessons about him his love and his kingdom. I can't wait.

But I'm curious...What are you doing for Advent?