Experiencing Advent In Chaos

During Advent this year, my life has been chaotic. I’ve spent the last three weeks completing work projects, doing last minute packing, living out of boxes, purging, updating personal documents, and saying so long to friends and family. All this has made me anxious, excited, sad, happy and every emotion in between. Through it all, I am grateful for my morning meditation and prayer time as the constant in my life to keep me sane. My recent meditations have been focused on Advent.

I keep asking myself, “how can I experience Advent and its gifts from God with so much going on around me?” Advent is a season filled with anticipation building up to the birth of Christ; a time between Thanksgiving day and Christmas day.

Well, when I read Scripture, I am reminded the time leading up to the birth of Christ was chaotic: An angel delivering messages from God. An unwed pregnant teenager carrying God’s son. A young man discovering his soon to be wife is pregnant and he is NOT the father. A baby in a womb jumping in the presence of pregnant Mary. A couple fleeing from a jealous king. A hospitality professional offering Joseph and pregnant Mary to stay in a stable filled with smelly animals because that’s what was available! In all this, Mary and Joseph remained obedient. Along with other players in this story, they continued to act in expectation of the coming Christ child.

Now, I am not making an argument that I am Mary or Joseph. I am saying during my time of transition, I can focus on daily tasks trusting God, remembering His gifts of Advent and know He is with me through it all. I believe nothing I could ever imagine is waiting on the other side of my exhausting, exciting, busy and scary season.

So, this Advent I will make room for the hope, peace, joy and love Advent brings and share them with others. I hope I remember this season and live in expectation in the coming year as God reveals his plan and many blessings.

Click here for related blog post “Advent - Expectation in Seeing God in the Everyday”