There was a time not
long ago, that I faced living with a serious shift in my status quo of life. In
a moment all of my norms changed. Where I lived, who I spent time with, and who
I worked with all changed in the blink of an eye. With all of this change swirling
around me, I had two choices:
1. to fight the change with every ounce of energy I had...
or
2. embrace the change as an exciting adventure.
After trying out option one for a few weeks and only feeling more frustrated, anxious, and exhausted; I reluctantly tried out option two and began living into my changed life with a sense of excitement. Where there had been resistance and negativity, this new sense of adventure and hope began to take root and for that time of "all things changed" - became a time of adventure that I treasure.
1. to fight the change with every ounce of energy I had...
or
2. embrace the change as an exciting adventure.
After trying out option one for a few weeks and only feeling more frustrated, anxious, and exhausted; I reluctantly tried out option two and began living into my changed life with a sense of excitement. Where there had been resistance and negativity, this new sense of adventure and hope began to take root and for that time of "all things changed" - became a time of adventure that I treasure.
What is Advent all about?
As the season of
Advent is almost upon us, I’m struck by the opportunity it brings for
reflection on the themes of: hope, joy, peace and love. Traditions for Advent
that we are most familiar with are chocolate Advent calendars, weekly candle
lighting and possibly a celebration on January 6th (Three Kings Day)
at its conclusion; but this year might be a good time to consider new ways of
taking advantage of this time for prayer, reflection, and building up community
connections.
How could we work
together to create and advantageous advent season?
In this season of Advent,
we walk into a time of waiting for Jesus. We look through the lenses of: hope,
peace, joy and love. We ponder these things in order to become more aware of
the places God shows up in our daily lives. In Advent, we take part in a devotion
time or prayer practice that helps us fill our time as we wait for Jesus. I
love the sensibility of restfulness that Advent call us to, but I long for
something exciting to capture my heart and mind in the season to come. I often
live life too fast to take time for this kind of spiritual reflection, this
kind of waiting; but I wonder what would happen if we injected a sense of
adventure into our Advent waiting? What if we enter into Advent like Mary and
Joseph, like the shepherds in the fields, and even like the wise men that
adventured as they waited for the Christ child to be born.
In the Advent that
awaits us, there is and need for time to reflect upon the themes: hope, joy,
peace, and love; but there also is room for adventuring. In this Advent before
us, I think is is BOTH a time of waiting AND adventure.
This Advent, we have an opportunity to spend 40 days actively waiting for Jesus
by taking note of all the places God shows up as well as where we are being
called to love and serve our neighbors for the sake of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. What if, this Advent, we embarked on an adventure where noticing love,
hope, joy and peace were just the beginning of a advantageous Advent.
How can I participate in an advantageous
Advent?
On November 27th, the season of Advent began and now I invite you to join me each day of Advent by taking time to mark this season of active waiting. Advent active waiting could look like:
1. Writing daily in a
journal.
2. Posting thanks for
moments of hope, joy, love and peace on social media.
3. Drawing daily in a
sketch book.
4. Finding hands on
ways to helping a new person each day of Advent.
5. Committing to a
time of daily scripture reading and prayer.
Only you can determine
what this 40 day Advent adventure will look like, but I hope that you will
embrace this opportunity for adventure as we wait for Christmas and join me in
taking part in an Advantageous Advent inspired by Christ's call to the
adventure of loving God and people. ("Follow me...and I will make you
fishers for people.") If you
decide to take part in this 40 day adventure by way of social media platforms
(Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), please use the hashtag #advantageousadvent so
that more people can locate your posts and participate in the fun.
A new way Tree of Life will take part in
#adventageousadvent…
As a way to help you
get started in taking part of an advantageous Advent, Tree of Life will be
posting daily reflections, prayers, art and songs on our Facebook page to give
a road map for the next 40 days. But in order to make this an interactive
experience, you are invited to help build this interactive devotion. At the
back of our worship space, you will find a poster board titled Advantageous
Advent that will have 40 post-it’s on it. Each post-it will have an idea or
scripture reference for that day in Advent and you are invited to choose a day
to create a reflection for our online project. Daily #adventageousadvent posts
will appear on the Tree of Life Facebook page starting on November 27 and
ending on January 6th. If you plan to participate in this 40 day
devotion project, please email Pastor Tara your contributions at least 5 days
before the date you have chosen from the board.
The refection you
create for the day could be a poem, a prayer, a drawing, or a short devotion
written or focused on the theme of each day. Use your creativity and encourage
the children in your life to help you with your submission. With your help,
Tree of Life will be able to create a encouraging message of hope, joy, peace
and love that hundreds of people can read and reflect upon throughout the
Advent season.
Let’s adventure together this Advent season by celebrating a #adventageousadvent in sharing God’s message of hope, joy, peace and love.
For questions or to submit your #adventageousadvent reflection for the Tree of Life Facebook page, please email me at: taralamonteastman@gmail.com
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