Category Archives: Advent Adventures

Christmas Devos

Christmas Eyes

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Something about Christmas brings out the kid in all of us.
PB’s natural fun-loving personality really shines during the holidays.
He brings home all kinds of goodies. Every day. They are piling up.

Bags of Farm & Fleet Tootsie Roll Pops are a staple around here. In December, though, the stash is considerably expanded. After all, there are Christmas programs and dance recitals and extra church services. The demand rises dramatically, so PB keeps his pockets jammed full of suckers to pass out when the kids’ start to wiggle.

One year, PB brought home a yodeling pickle ornament. It’s motion sensitive, which means when I get up at 5:30 a.m. and tiptoe out to the kitchen, a shrill voice coming from a dark corner scares the Charles Dickens out of me. So fun!

It’s not all candy and toys for PB. He also goes in for a good game to play with the grandkids. This one is sure to be a hit with the 6-year-old and 8-year-old grandsons. We need to give them more reasons to talk about butts.

Of all PB’s fun finds, these get my seal of approval.
They don’t cause cavities,
they don’t yodel,
and they have nothing to do with butts.

These flimsy “glasses” transform the Christmas tree lights into fun shapes. We have glasses that create snowmen, reindeer, trees, candy canes and gingerbread men. These magical specs cost $1.69 each, which is the best deal in town.

See what I mean?
The glasses help you see something that nobody else sees.
It’s magic.

I’m wondering if Simeon had a special pair of glasses.

In Luke 2, when Joseph and Mary brought their 8-day-old baby boy to the temple, Simeon saw something that nobody else saw. The elderly gentleman took baby Jesus in his arms and declared, “My eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:30)

Everyone else in the temple saw a baby.
Simeon saw salvation.
He must have had Holy-Spirit-glasses.
Oh, for eyes to see like Simeon.

It’s Not Christmas

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Even though all the stores and television ads are telling you otherwise,
Christmas doesn’t arrive until December 25th.
Shocking news, isn’t it?

The Christmas season is in full swing.
All the music, all the decorations, all the credit card purchases.
All of it.

But wait.

This is Advent – a time of preparing for Christmas. Just as Lent is the time leading up to Easter, Advent is supposed to be slower, quieter, and more introspective as we get ready for Christ to arrive. Instead, we jump into full-on celebration right from the start of December and by the time the 25th rolls around, we are exhausted and kind of glad it’s all over. We’re getting it all wrong.

“Advent is like the hush of the theater just before the curtain rises.”
Frederick Buechner

Four weeks are built into the Christian calendar to “help us cultivate waiting, hope, and longing. And longing isn’t short. Longing literally takes a looooong time or it’s not really a longing, is it?” (A. J. Sherrill, Rediscovering Christmas)

Oh, I know. Waiting isn’t easy. We are so used to immediate gratification—getting what we want when we want it. Advent waiting, though, allows God time to do deep work in us, if we sit still long enough. 

I’m trying to reign in the hustle and bustle during Advent. I’d like to save some mental, emotional and physical energy for the day the waiting is over and the true celebration begins—Christmas Day! I don’t want to be so stuffed with Christmas by the 25th that I sleep through the real show.

Hush! The curtain is about to rise!

Two Ways to Give Thanks

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My inbox greeted me with two messages on this Thanksgiving morning.

I signed up for the NYT emails so I can play Wordle.
I get SpurgeonBooks emails so I can pray the Word.

Feast your eyes on two ways to give thanks today.

“Everything will be OK. Try to enjoy the day. You can do it.”
vs.
“Always thankful to our merciful God”

Take your pick.

“Give thanks as you move through the day.
And hug your people tight.” (NYT)
vs.
“We all have some cause for thankfulness,
therefore will we praise the Lord from the rising of the sun
unto the going down of the same.” (Spurg)

It helps to know Who to thank.

Also, you didn’t think we would finish the year without a plan, did you?

The 2025 Bible Reading Plan was left wide open for December. But never fear, we will finish strong in 2025 with an Advent Reading Plan. Also, fear not—most days are only a few verses. Grab yourself a cup of coffee in the wee hours of dark December mornings, light a candle, and join me for a moment of stillness and study of His Word. The same Word that became Flesh.