Anticipation (Advent Week Two)

In a quest to be intentional this advent (and to find a healthy distraction from the pre-finals stress) I'm starting a series on Christ's birth. If you missed the first week's post, you can find it here.

I've learned a lot about anticipation over the past year. There have been moments over the past few months where I lie awake longing for the familiar. There were days before Thanksgiving break where I was literally bouncing with the excitement of seeing my family and friends (I'm not that excited now... But I also don't think it's kicked in that I will be home in less than 48 hours!). I now know the heart-pounding, knee-knocking, I-can-hardly-walk-up-these-stairs-I'm-so-excited feeling that comes when I'm mere seconds away from returning to open houses and open arms that have always spelled home in my heart. I like anticipation. It fills me with excitement, and longing, and joy.

This advent I've been thinking of what part this sense of anticipation should play in my faith. So much of advent is looking back on Christ's life on Earth, yes. It's about the thankfulness that sometimes overwhelms me when I think of just what that little baby in a manger means for our world. So often, though, I'm content to stop there. I forget. Yes, Christmas is about the hope that Christ brought to our world. It's so much more than that, though. It's about the hope that Christ is coming back.

I don't anticipate this nearly enough. I'm not floored by my excitement when I think about Christ's return. I don't randomly start jumping up and down (yes, that often happened prior to Thanksgiving) because I can't contain my joy. I should be, though. What event, other than the first time Jesus came, could ever be more important for our world?

And so my goal, this Christmas, is to prepare my heart. I want to be like Paul, stating that "to live is Christ and to die is gain." I want to long to see my loved ones- Jesus most of all. I'm getting closer, yes. But I still have a far way to go.

Still, though, I say: Come, Jesus, come. Come quickly.

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