If you’re at all like me, you are entering the Christmas Panic Period (or at least that’s what I call it). The hustle of Christmas time has just got real. You’ve realized Christmas is 16 days away and panic is setting it. If you didn’t realize Christmas was only 16 days away until you read that sentence, I’m sorry. But welcome to the panic with me. You probably still have about 362 presents to buy, dinner to prepare and decorations in boxes in the garage (which, let’s be honest, are definitely not going up this year).

Panic. Anxiety. Stress.

These are not things Christmas is suppose to be about, but they are definitely realities of what Christmas has become. This advent season, I’m so happy we are going through old hymns and reflecting on the person of Christ. Remembering what He did by coming as a baby to save us. When I stop focusing on the stresses of the Christmas season, I find peace in who Jesus is.

One of my new favorite hymns is “When Came in Flesh the Incarnate Word.” The title says it all. It’s the evolving story of Jesus who came to earth to save us. The opening stanza is my favorite:

When came in flesh the incarnate Word,

The heedless world slept on,

And only simple shepherds heard

That God has sent His Son.

I do not really like to admit it, but often I fall into the “heedless world” category. I move through my day and my list of to-dos oblivious to the things God is doing, in the small and big, around me. I try to figure it all out on my own, when I was never meant to live that way. You were never meant to live that way, either.

We are called, instead, to be like the simple shepherds. They were ready to be used by God. They did not have big titles, fancy things. They had their sheep and were available. That’s all God is asking of us.

When we are available for Him to use, He will.

We can’t walk through life with blinders on. We need to live with eyes wide open, ready for God to use us.

This Christmas Panic Period I am certain is not just me. And most of the people who are panicking in America during this season do not know the saving grace of Jesus. They are heedless, which just means they are oblivious. They have yet to be told. What if you are the person who is suppose to tell them?

The heart of Jesus, the very reason we celebrate His birth, was to seek and save. In Luke 15 we find three stories of how much Jesus loves lost things and how desperate He is to find them. Maybe the person who needs saving is the single mom behind you at Target praying her card gets accepted for the few things she can provide her family this year. Maybe it’s your brother that you’ve been praying for years will finally come to find Jesus as Lord.

Be like the shepherds. Listen for God’s guiding and go tell the heedless world of His goodness, grace and forgiveness. This is the season of miracles.

When Came in Flesh The Incarnate Word
Words by: Joseph Anstice

When came in flesh the incarnate Word,
The heedless world slept on,
And only simple shepherds heard
That God had sent His Son.

When comes the Savior at the last,
From east to west shall shine
The awful pomp, and earth aghast
Shall tremble at the sign.

Then shall the pure of heart be blest;
As mild He comes to them,
As when upon the virgin’s breast
He lay at Bethlehem.

As mild to meek eyed love and faith,
Only more strong to save;
Strengthened by having bowed to death,
By having burst the grave.

Lord, who could dare see Thee descend
In state, unless he knew
Thou art the sorrowing sinner’s Friend,
The gracious and the true?

Dwell in our hearts, O Savior blest;
So shall Thine advent’s dawn
’Twixt us and Thee, our bosom Guest,
Be but the veil withdrawn.

Credit: Photo by Sarah Simon // Instagram: @themintgardener

There is something mesmerizing about the dark starry sky. I can get lost gazing towards the sky as I watch the stars shine so radiantly. Being in the city makes it hard to see the elegance of the night sky. But going to a more desolate area makes it possible to see the beauty that occurs after sundown.

A couple weeks ago, my mom came running into the house exclaiming, “Hurry up! Come outside! There is a bright blue light in the sky!” As I stepped outside, I noticed a bright, yet fading light. “It’s gone. I’m sad you missed it” my mom stated.  She continued to say that there was a bright light traveling in the sky, as if it were trailing off of an airplane. “As I continued to watch, the light trail ended and it turned into a blue haze. It was so bright! I wonder what it could be?” 

That must have been the thought of the shepherds as they stared into the night sky on that cold, Christmas morning. “What is that bright light? That star is shining so radiantly!” A star of that magnitude must have brought many questions and mixed emotions, just as it did to my mom and the rest of San Jose.

The bright light in San Jose was also seen in Southern California and Arizona. It turns out that a military base in San Diego shot an unarmed missile into the sky that night. This occurrence was mentioned in the news for a good week and a half. I still hear people talking about the “bright blue light”.

That light brought questions. That light grabbed people’s attention. That light is still being discussed in the workplace and in the media. But what that light didn’t bring was hope. It didn’t cause an event that would dramatically change this world. That light will soon be forgotten.  

There is one light that will never be forgotten. There is a light that is still shining brightly. There is a light that will bring hope AND love AND joy to this world. There is a light that will never be taken away and no man, no creature…no thing can extinguish that light.

That light was the light the shepherds saw in Bethlehem many years ago. That light was the light that was visible to the Wise Men who lived miles and miles away – Wise Men who were drawn to its beauty and radiance.

I love the last lyric of the hymn “Watchman, Tell Us Of The Night”.  It reads:

“The Prince of Peace, Lo! The Son of God is come!”  

Friends, the Son of God has come! He is the gift that brings us light in our darkest times.  Jesus is the light that was sent to this earth to save us from this hopeless world.  Once we experience that light in our own lives, it is extremely difficult to let that light burn out.  

This Christmas I encourage you to be a light to the people around you.  Be a light that will make people say, “What makes her shine as bright as a diamond?”

Be a light that will gravitate others toward Christ.

Watchmen, Tell Us Of the Night
Words by: Sir John Bowring

Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.
Traveler, over yon mountain’s height,
See that glory beaming star.
Watchman, does its beauteous ray
Aught of joy or hope foretell?
Traveler, yes – it brings the day,
Promised day of Israel.

Watchman, tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends.
Traveler, blessedness and light,
Peace and truth its course portends.
Watchman, will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveler, ages are its own;
See, it bursts over all the earth.

Watchman, tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn.
Traveler, darkness takes its flight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn.
Watchman, let thy wanderings cease;
Hie thee to thy quiet home.
Traveler, lo! the Prince of Peace,
Lo! the Son of God is come!

Credit: Photo by Sarah Simon // Instagram: @themintgardener

My mornings look like this:

Jumping out of bed, rubbing my eyes, wishing I had another hour in bed. Crawling to my bathroom, staring at myself, wondering if I could go another day, again, without washing my hair. “I have no time” I say to myself. I’m already looking forward to crawling back into bed because the day is scheduled to be hectic.

In the whirlwind of my day, I have been busy, snappy, and restless. I’ve told God that I’m too busy for Him – that He can take a number with everything else in my life.

Yes, I’ve shoved God to side with making my bed and cleaning out my car.

As I write this in November, my heart struggles to get into the Advent season. My Christmas to-do list is a little wild and my mind is not finding peace.

What is Advent all about, again?

Waiting on the arrival of Christ.

Waiting…something I have much difficulty in.

I love Psalm 62. It’s this powerful anthem that I want tattooed on my heart.

“I will wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” – v.1

I don’t know what you’re waiting for in life or even if you’re waiting at all. Maybe you have lists like me. Lists that keep growing. Lists that have caused God to be shoved off to the side, as well as shoved off your deepest needs.

Maybe your deepest need is silence, but the craziness have buried that need.

Maybe your need is joy.

Or friendship.

All these needs just pushed off to the side because our lives have taken us away. I feel in my heart that God is saying, “Why has this become the normal? Why is being busy the thing you need to be doing? Why aren’t you taking care of yourself?”

Maybe you don’t even know what your need is.

I love what Frederick Buechner says about waiting.

“I think we are waiting. That is what is at the heart of it. Even when we don’t know that we are waiting, I think we are waiting. Even when we can’t find words for what we are waiting for, I think we are waiting. An ancient Advent prayer supplies us with the words. “Give us grace,” it says, “that we may cast off the works of darkness and put upon us the armor of light.” We who live much of the time in the darkness are waiting not just at Advent, but at all times for the advent of light, of that ultimate light that is redemptive and terrifying at the same time.”

You may not even know what you’re waiting for, but you’re waiting. Your heart is waiting for what God is going to give, even when you didn’t even realize you have a need.

God is so in tune with us, that He knows us so intimately.

We find fullness of joy being in the presence of the Lord.

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of presence and the pleasure of living with you forever.” -Psalm 16:11

As we quietly wait for the Lord, with intention or no intention, may we walk into His courts knowing that being in His presence is where we will find our source for life and light – that our deepest needs will be met. As we get closer to celebrating the birth of Christ, my prayer is that we can bring the Kingdom to earth so that our friends and family will also experience His presence -that their ultimate needs will encounter Christ and He will breath life on the most buried desire.

The Advent of Our God
Words by: Charles Coffin

The Advent of our God
Our prayers must now employ,
And we meet him on his road
With hymns of holy joy.

The everlasting Son
Incarnate soon shall be:
He will a servant’s form put on,
To make his people free.

Daughter of Zion, rise
And greet thy lowly King,
And no not wickedly despise
The mercies he will bring.

As Judge, in clouds of light,
He will come down again,
And all his scattered saints unite
With Him in Heaven to reign.

Before that dreadful day
May all out sin be gone;
May the old man be put away,
And the new man put on!

Praise to the Savior Son
From all the angel Host:
Like praise be to the Father done,
And to the Holy Ghost.

Credit: Photo by Sarah Simon // Instagram: @themintgardener

When I close my eyes and imagine that day when we will all meet Jesus Christ I feel pure joy and excitement.

Just imagine that one day our God will descend from Heaven and we will behold all of His beauty and power with our very own eyes. We don’t know when that day will come, but in the meantime we have the unique ability to be filled with His goodness, His love, His mercy, and His power.

So until that day comes, we ought to live with expectancy. We ought to use our time wisely and make sure that we seek every opportunity to prepare for that glorious day. Life has a way of swallowing us whole with no mercy at times. We get busy, priorities shift, and sometimes we find ourselves lost in responsibility and the demands of work, family, etc. The tragedy comes when life becomes so overwhelming that we miss the opportunities to experience the fullness of God.

I like to think that when we give God the opportunity to speak to us, it equips us for life. It gives us the confidence and reassurance that we indeed can get through anything because God promised He would never leave us nor forsake us.

Those daily reminders of who God is are critical because it renews our faith and perspective on life. So even when life gets busy and we have no clue how we are going to find our way, we must take things one day at a time, and maybe even hour by hour.

To be prepared in life is to be equipped with God’s word. To be prepared for that day when we meet our Lord and Savior is to make a conscious effort to live according to His word. To be prepared means we live in anticipation of His return while yet depending on Him to be our very best till that day.

I like to think that when mistakes are made, it is a beautiful reminder that without God we are nothing. Only He is perfect and it brings me extreme peace in knowing that we serve a God who cannot and will not fail us, but we must do our part. That is worth celebrating.

I believe with all my heart that when we prepare ourselves by praying, spending quiet time studying, and making a true genuine effort to honor God in our day to day decisions and actions that it brings a smile to His face.

I hope that on that day when I see God for myself that He would be pleased with me. When I meet Jesus I want Him to be proud of me. I want Him to look at me as His child and feel pride in knowing that I made every effort to live a life that gloried Him. So my responsibility it so be mindful of how I live, how I respond to others, to be forgiving, etc. Faith and discipline requires discipline but even in that we honor God.

Are we properly equipping ourselves to experience the work of God in our lives? Are we really prepared for the day God returns? Are we intentionally making God a priority in our lives or are we giving Him a little bit of our time here and there?

These are hard questions but ones we should be mindful of in our walk with God. Let us seek to please God daily. Let us remember that when we fall short, God’s love remains. Let us be mindful that even when life is not perfect, God is.  When we equip ourselves to be our best through Christ, we are indeed making God happy.

Wake, Awake, For Night is Flying
Words by: Phillip Nicolai

Wake, awake, for night is flying,
The watchmen on the heights are crying;
Awake, Jerusalem, at last!
Midnight hears the welcome voices,
And at the thrilling cry rejoices:
Come forth, ye virgins, night is past!
The Bridegroom comes, awake,
Your lamps with gladness take;
Hallelujah!
And for His marriage-feast prepare,
For ye must go to meet Him there.

Zion hears the watchmen singing,
And all her heart with joy is springing,
She wakes, she rises from her gloom;
For her Lord comes down all-glorious,
The strong in grace, in truth victorious,
Her Star is risen, her Light is come!
Ah come, Thou blessed Lord,
O Jesus, Son of God,
Hallelujah!
We follow till the halls we see
Where Thou hast bid us sup with Thee!

Now let all the heavens adore Thee,
And men and angels sing before Thee,
With harp and cymbal’s clearest tone;
Of one pearl each shining portal,
Where we are with the choir immortal
Of angels round Thy dazzling throne;
Nor eye hath seen, nor ear
Hath yet attain’d to hear
What there is ours,
But we rejoice, and sing to Thee
Our hymn of joy eternally.

Credit: Photo by Elizabeth Berry // Instagram: @ellie.m.berry