Almost . . .

We returned home on December 21.  We spend 2/3 of Advent away from home, ironically teaching about "exodus and advent."  The wilderness was a big theme, and we got to be there!

There was something about being away from home that really deepened my sense of Advent and the approaching birth of Christ.  I don't know just what it was, but there was a connection.  Coming home just in time for the final days evoked the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem (although for them it was a journey away from home, an exodus).

We had decided before we left that Christmas would be simple - we came home tired, with things to catch up on.  We don't need gifts or fancy foods or big events.  Christmas this year is unadulterated, about Christ.  Maybe that's why it's so pressing for me.

I feel like I'm about to give birth.  I can't wait.  Something big is happening.  It won't look big from the outside, no one else may know, but God is entering into my life in a new and deeper way right now.  I don't have any other words for it.  Something is coming.

Jesus came into a world of oppression and injustice.  Our world, too, is awash in anger and violence and domination and exploitation.  The light is shining in the darkness; it will shine.  The darkness cannot overcome it, do what it may.

I can't wait.  The world can't wait.  Come, Lord Jesus!