In the Advent Calendar today:
"Read today's Advent Devotion online and then make packages of the dog treats to deliver to our neighbor-pups."
The kids spent the night with their grandparents last night, so they did not open the calendar until they got home this evening. It was a good thing, too, because I had to change it.
We have been having car problems. Not just with one car, but both. This meant I was at home all day and would not be able to take them on the errand required for the activity I originally planned behind door #4. We were only able to make the dog treats yesterday, not deliver them (they were supposed to sit out overnight), so I decided to make delivery today's advent mission.
It is amazing how much you can do when you are stuck at home. At first, I was only frustrated with what I would not be able to do, including run by the store. It ended up to be such a gift, to sit at home and see all I already have. I found dinner ingredients behind some ice cream in the freezer. The gift tags to finish wrapping presents were made from index cards and old ribbon instead of the cute ones I planned on getting from target. And the mission today was simply to walk outside our front door share the gifts we had already finished that were setting on our kitchen counter .
The scripture in the devotion today begins,
"Comfort, O Comfort my people, says your God..." (Isaiah 40:1)
Comfort.
How can we experience it deeply?
How can we offer it genuinely and generously?
Sit. Still. Breathe. Look around at what you have. From the precise spot you are in this very moment. You don't have to drive anywhere to find it. You don't have to accomplish anything to get it. Right here is the only place Comfort ever promises to be.
Comfort, O Comfort.
I felt it today...
as I scrounged around for dinner ingredients,
as I hung the last ornament,
as I yelled at my kids to stop fighting over the computer,
as we tried to figure out our car situation,
as I listened to my daughter read the devotion to our family,
as I bickered with my husband,
as I sit here now, with everyone else in bed
and only the christmas lights to keep me company.
Comfort, O Comfort...to you my friends, right where you are.
1 comment:
Ahh, I love this word. Our pastor today preached on Isaiah 40, where this idea of comfort comes. He said that he heard an audible sigh from the congregation when he said that the first application point in his sermon - RELAX. God has this thing. It's not up to us. Really, truly - RELAX. Comfort. Our salvation is not ours to earn. He's won it doubly with His death & with His life. It's simply ours to enjoy. Comfort, comfort my people, indeed. Light of the world, O Come Emmanuel.
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