Day 15: Third Sunday in Advent

The movement towards the revelation of the full light of Christ passes the midway point today. The intensity of the pace is quickening. I find myself rushed, pressed, sometimes thinking about what else needs to happen instead of remaining in the moment and enjoying it. I am ready for a calender without deadlines. I am in need of some quiet moments in which I am not bombarded by thoughts of what I should be doing. And interestingly enough, I feel I may steal some of those in the week ahead. Fewer events to attend. Fewer services to prepare for. Space in my week to ponder. My eye notices the empty spots in my calendar and I intend to keep them commitment and obligation free. I'd like to bake some cookies and make a grocery list for Christmas week. I'd like to sit with my dog and lit candles and listen to Michael Card's The Promise from start to finish. I might even stay in bed until noon one of those days. Ah, the sweetness of a calendar that isn't jam packed! Well, for a few days anyway. 4th of Advent, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day await me the following week, but for this week...no sermon to prepare. No party to attend. No event to host. The quiet freedom from the pace of the Advent season awaits me for a few days in the week ahead.
But today is a busy day. Church with communion. A farewell in the afternoon for the American Ambassador and his wife, and finally our choir concert. The pace is rapid. The demands both mentally and physically are numerous. And yet, the burning flames of the advent candles sooth and bring peace and harmony to my otherwise chaotic world. I will find some time to sit with them and enjoy the gift that they are. I will find some time in the week ahead to consider the peace that God has promised...that unto us a child is born and his name shall be called Emmanuel which means God With Us. God with us when it's busy. God with us when it's hectic. God with us when it's exhausting. God with us. Restoring, renewing, rejoicing. Where will you find God with you in the week ahead? Be sure to pause and give thanks to God that He is indeed with us.