Hope...

Here begins my advent journey once again....happy reading and happy holidays to you all...

Much has happened in this last year of life.  I read back to last year's beginning of my advent writings and I was kind of at a low point, but still found ways to rejoice.  And just like the ground beneath the snow, my heart was being softened and prepared for something new.  I met Chris not even a month after Christmas Day last year and we've been together ever since.  My discouragement turned into courage to journey with him into the unknown and it has been a beautiful journey.  My sister met Rob (my future brother-in-law) in March and they will tie the knot two days after Christmas this year.  My brother and his wife had the second most beautiful girl in the whole world on March 1, my mom's birthday.  Life has been busy and full of changes, but mostly just full in the best ways.

This first week of Advent focuses on hope.  Hope that God sent to earth in the form of a new child.  Hope that God continues to send to us, in the form of a new baby, a new relationship, a hard time, a joyous time, a "normal" day...in smiles, in hugs, in holding someone's hand through a difficult time.  

I've known Shelley for about twelve years now...Shelley has been fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to know me from college days of figuring out who I was and being so silly that all we did was laugh together sometimes, to growing into who I am today, which is still pretty silly.  I knew Shelley before Jeremy became her husband, when she was convinced that "he doesn't like me that way...we're just friends" to "I like him!" and then to "I don't want to be the Balls!"  They got married and settled in Dandridge.  I moved away and then I moved back and we continued a friendship that I will always treasure.  I always knew Jeremy and Shelley would be amazing parents and I prayed for them to be able to have a child.  And yet, year after year, it didn't happen.  I questioned, I prayed with desperation, I cried for them, I shook my head in disbelief.  But I still prayed and hoped and asked God to restore hope to their prayers.  

In October, Dana Claire entered our world.  This clear, bright gift of God has been such a blessing to her parents and to all of us who prayed for her and hoped for her for so long. 

Can you even imagine being an early believer?  You've heard all about a Messiah, someone God would send to redeem you and the world...and yet you have no idea what that looks like. Perhaps it looks like the hope we all have experienced...perhaps hope prepares the way for the birth of joy.  The joy of a new baby is something you can't quite put into words...it changes you, softens your heart, and refocuses your purpose. 

Dare to hope...and in that, you will know joy.