The Season of Advent

Christmas is practically upon us.
And what a wonderful thing
to celebrate:
The coming of Christ.

I know this may sound a little strange,
especially for those of you who know me well,
but I think this will be the
first year that I'll be really celebrating
Christ's birth.
It's not that I didn't acknowledge
His birth or praise the Lord
that He's come.
But His coming wasn't my focus
in past Christmas seasons.
I was always so focused on
my family
and all the get-together's we would be
having this time of year.
However,
since this season of life
is drastically different
than I thought it would be,
my thoughts and affections
have turned wholly to Christ.
Which has been wonderful.
I've been reflecting a lot
upon the great God I worship,
how He stepped down out of His glory
to become human.
He took on flesh.
He lived here on this earth.
And the whole time,
He served God and lived out His will.
He suffered and died.
But then God raised Him from the dead.
He was the propitiation for my sin.
And now He's seated at the right hand of the Father.
He lives to make intercession for me and for others.
How wonderful that the Gospel
was displayed clearly in His birth.

So, Christ and His Gospel
has been on my mind a lot lately.
And I think that's the only reason
I've been able to function.
Let's catch up over this past week and a half,
shall we?
I had the opportunity to go home last week.
And what a most blessed time it was.
I had some great quality time with
my parents, my sister, and a couple of my friends.
But more than that,
the Lord sent me great comfort in being
home while this was going on.
I think the hardest part of being in NC
when I found out
was that I had no way to grieve
with my parents or my family
over the cancer.
Yes, I could cry with Rach
or with other people from my Growth Group.
But, they didn't know my dad.
They didn't know how special he is to my heart.
And so it had been hard.
But oh,
the Lord allowed for so much healing to
happen back home.
I'm still not confident in the chemo.
But I'm so thankful that I got to see
my parents both trusting in the Lord firsthand.
I got to see how people
were taking care of them.
I think one of the most special times
was when I got to sit with my dad
through his first chemo treatment.
A lot of information was thrown our way.
It was very overwhelming.
But while my dad was sleeping,
I had the chance to pray over him.
What a sweet, sweet time.
Leaving them on Monday was a totally different story.
I don't think I've had such
a hard time leaving them.
I wasn't prepared for the tears.
But the Lord kept me together.
And I've been talking to my dad and mom
every day since being back.
Anyway,
this past week has been crazy.
But I've had a few sweet encounters
with the Savior.
He's been so good.
Reminders of His goodness have
flooded my soul through His word:

Psalm 29:11
The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

Psalm 30:11-12
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. 

Psalm 31:3
For You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me.

Psalm 42:6-8
O my God, my soul is in despair within me; therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waters have rolled over me. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.

The last bit of Scripture has really spoken to my heart.
I mean,
it says exactly what I've been doing.
My soul has been in despair.
But I've been going back to all the times
that He's been faithful,
not only in Scripture,
but in my own life.
And those experiences have increased my faith.
They've reminded me that
the same God is still at work in my life.
He's the same.
Everything in my life is
in upheaval right now.
But He is the same.
How completely comforting
to my soul.

The Lord is good.
He is faithful.
And in this season when I can't
go home to my family,
He's sending me to another family.
I'm so thankful that I get to go to SC
to spend some time with MG.
So. Stoked.
It will be a blessing.

But.
Anyway.
May this season be a reminder of God's grace,
of His love, and His faithfulness.
Because when Christ entered this world,
He was fulfilling the covenant
God made ages ago.
He is faithful.

Blessings to you this Christmas.