The Season of Advent

"No matter your story before, this is your beginning now: you were formed by Love . . . for love.  And the greatest gift we can give our great God is to let His love make us glad." ~Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

 

It's December and I can already tell that this Christmas season is going to fly by; only 22 days until the big day.  It feels like there is so much to do in such a short amount of time as I try to cram in as much as I can to make this holiday special for the little ones.

However, last month I committed to myself that I would look at the holiday season differently this year. I would be more intentional about remembering what the season is really about and not try to rush through it, but instead slow down. As part of that, I am reading The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. In her book, she invites her readers to look at Christmas as a celebration of a love story; a love story of the God who has been pursuing our hearts since the very beginning.

God's infinite love has been a theme that has come up a lot for me during the last few months. I have been taught about God's love all my life, but that deeper understanding of how great His love for us is has been becoming more apparent recently.

And that is what this season of Advent and Christmas is truly about. It is remembering that He loved us so completely that He gave up heaven to come down here. He gave up everything to arrive on this earth with nothing. He became the least of these so that we can be more and have more than this life offers.

So I am on a journey this advent season as I await the celebration of the birth of my Savior; the one who's love for me is greater than I could ever comprehend. Because it is out of His love that everything else flows and is made possible. As the days move closer towards December 25th, I want to be moving closer towards Him. My prayer every morning this December is that I will be filled with Him; so much so that it overflows to those around me.