Marking our Time

The week began on a rather slow note. In fact, it began with a little time away from work and a short trip over to Palm Desert to see production in a local theater. The beginning of the week felt nice as things took a slightly slower pace than a normal Monday morning and a normal week.

But, of course, Wednesday felt completely different. With a return to the office in now a shortened week, the busy-ness of the week came crashing into the two remaining days of my work week. Needless to say, it felt decidedly less like Advent as phone calls, meetings, classes, and worship services unfolded over those days. It felt like a grind.

The truth of a season like Advent is that it will not feel differently if we do not put some intentionality behind the ways that our days unfold. The busy-ness of life will continue to be present and will continue to press in on our lives as long as we allow it to do so. For Advent to be a time of quiet, of contemplation, and of expectant preparation, we have to create some new boundaries in our lives that allow us to practice those things. The boundaries that we create are the ways that we are saying yes to the gift of the Advent season.

My first week of Advent was on the cusp of running away from me this week when I received a simple reminder that I was being invited to pattern the pace of life differently in this season. After taking our dog Taylor for her morning walk (a 2-mile walk around our neighborhood), I opened up GMail on my phone to glance at my inbox. There, at the top of the unread messages section of my inbox, was a message from AdventWord inviting me pause, even if only for 2 or three minutes, to ponder an Advent reflection. Tapping into the email, I was gifted a reflection that asked me, “Would it be better to consider what God is trying to make of us? What is the Maker making here, now?“ The author of the reflection goes on to reflect on how we can get so busy making our lives that we forget to allow ourselves to ponder what God is up to in our lives and in the world around us. The pause of two or three minutes this morning left me wondering about what God is doing in my life and how God might be busy working within me at this very moment. It was a wonderful injection of hope and of promise into my day. (By the way, you can subscribe to AdventWord by visiting https://www.AdventWord.org)

Perhaps, the good news is that we still have three more weeks (a little more than, actually) to create some pauses in our days to ponder what God is doing in our lives and in the world around us. We have the opportunity to seek out those pauses in our lives in this season and to move in slightly less hurried ways.

How are you marking the time of Advent? What is a practice that your household is using for the Advent season? What does Advent mean for you?

In Christ,

Hunter+