Last Week’s Theme: Preparation
Parting with Tradition by Laura Cerbus—”This strange holiday season is revealing the significance of our traditions. As creatures of body and soul, we do not give up our physical habits and postures easily. There’s a pull to dismiss these things as less spiritual, and to focus on the heart.”
A Season of Forgiveness {Book Club} by Rachel Kahindi—”But in Christmas adjacent stories, you get the Christmas setting and sentiment without having to watch/read the same plot played out with the same characters bearing different names. (Though I admit: there are plenty of those that I love, too!) What are your favorite Christmas adjacent stories?“
For All the Christmas Failures by Emmy Lou Lopez—”I am a perpetual loser at Christmas. While some folks have a skillfully crafted game plan and crush it on Christmas traditions, people like me can’t remember where we shoved the box of Christmas decorations we managed to procure between overseas moves and the stuff we bought from expat friends’ “leaving & liquidating” sales.”
When Preparation Means Waiting by Sarah Hilkemann—”What does preparation mean for us when we don’t know if what we long for will happen? What does it mean to sit in the waiting? All I know, the one thing I come back to is this: my joy does not hinge on the answer to my prayer coming in my timing or in the way I expect. No, my joy rests in the Savior of the world who never changes.”
From Around the Web
Christmas Cookies and New Traditions
Setting the Example of Resiliency
On Instagram: Keep Fervent in Love and Even in the Waiting, Look Forward
Finally, What Finding Real Peace in 2020 Really Means
And Now For Next Week
The theme is…
“Anticipation lifts the heart”.
Luci Shaw, God with Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas
Perhaps our weary hearts need that reminder of what it feels like to be a kid on Christmas morning, eager to open gifts hiding under bows and pretty paper.
In the places where joy feels illusive, hidden by shadow and beaten down by the circumstances of this year, may you rest in Christ and know you are held.
May you know hope deep in the grief-stricken places as you anticipate the celebration of His coming.
Your stories are welcome here. Always. We know vulnerability is hard, but this community is that safe place to share. Join us in the blog post comments this week at Velvet Ashes, or share on social media in the comments or in your own posts with the hashtag #VelvetAshesAnticipation.
