De-Christmassing Advent

Something Understood

I'm learning so much this Advent season. Having removed Christmas from it as much as possible, given the world we live in, we are all benefiting from the peace and opportunities to read, pray and discover more about God's plan for humanity. Each of us is feeling truly liberated in a way that could only come from God.

The focus on the early church's tradition of Advent being a time both of remembering the waiting that God's people did throughout hundreds of years for their Messiah, AND the looking forward to the second Coming of Jesus, has been so deeply refreshing, for me personally. I know that, had we been knee deep in the wordly tradition of a Christmas Countdown, with all its frantic preparations and premature celebrations, we would not have been able to work through Advent with the right priorities.

Please don't believe that we judge those who see Advent as Christmas or criticise those who keep this season differently to us. Because we don't. {g} I just know that the changes we've made: to keep Advent, and when Advent ends, to keep Christmas (the traditional 12 Days), are working out beautifully for our family.

Something Amazing

Our children have become Worship Leaders! Grace (18) and Jack (15!) have become so accomplished at what they do, musically, that they are in high demand to lead worship for youth groups in the area.

They already sing/play in the Life-Songs concerts and are apprenticed to us at church. They now help to lead evening outreach you services at a church in a different denomination in our town and a nondenominational Youth Alpha Group in a village 10 miles away. This Sunday, they will be playing for another church in a town 15 miles away, as an opening event for a new youth outreach. They needed a band. Jack has been pulling one together and they will practice (round our house!) later today.

Jack has taken on the role and duties of Worship Leader well. He knows the importance of Bible Study and prayer as preparation for putting together a good event. He is learning how to organise himself and others. He and Grace are beginning to put together good set lists and he works very hard on the scriptures and prayers he studs the songs with. There are things he needs help with and other things we need to pray about for him, but I can say that we are very proud of the reputation they have earned as Godly young people who love Christian music and can lead others in their expression of love for God. Wow!

After the call came through to Jack to lead this youth thing on Sunday evening, he jokingly asked, 'Does that mean we're on tour?' LOL! Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Something Exciting

We're currently planning 3 services over Christmas. Our church is beginning to trust us and give us free reign with planning the services from start to finish, all except the preaching. It's a big responsibility, obviously, but we enjoy it. The scariest one is this Sunday when Nick Page is coming to preach. Nick is a well known author and speaker who's written a highly critical book about modern musical worship called, 'And Now Let's Move Into a Time of Nonsense.' The book is a very biting, though highly hilarious, satire on worship leading and song-writing. Jamie and I wept with laughter when we read it years ago, but of course, we are now super-motivated to getting worship RIGHT on Sunday. EEEK! LOL!

Something Appreciated

• The space to grow and rest in God which this season of Advent has allowed us. The slower pace of the inevitable practical preparations.
• The lack of anxiety which always hung like a black cloud over my Decembers!
• The end of my knitting compulsion!
• More time with Jamie, as he's had a few days of annual leave to take before the new year.
• The four of us went shopping in Banbury on Tuesday and no one shot at us! That would presumably be because Banbury is in Oxfordshire not Buckinghamshire! LOL!
• That we were invited to a New Year's Eve Party all four of us! Yay!
• Our Jesse Tree. Thanks Kathryn, forgiving us the idea of using this tree from Lakeland. It's perfect! It's hard to find 10 minutes a day when all four of us are home, but we manage it. It's just enough to reconnect us, spiritually, each day and we're loving the devotionals.