The Hope of Advent

I said I wouldn't post anymore until after the holidays.  Call me a liar!  I had some spare time today (which is a minor miracle in itself) and wanted to share something that's been niggling at my mind all week.  During this season of Advent, I wanted to try to distance myself from some of the commercialism and stress of the holidays.  Listen to more hymns and carols instead of "Let It Snow" for the 100th time.  Focus on Christ's incarnation specifically during my quiet time.  Try to spend quality time with the children either by decorating, shopping or reading Scripture/singing the old carols.  I ran across a devotional series that a fellow blogger wrote for Advent and she focuses on a new theme each week. This week's theme is Hope.

I'd never given much thought to how Christ was, and is, the fulfillment of my hope.  As a New Testament Christian, it seemed I didn't have much for which to hope.  Yes, there's the hope of spending eternity with Christ, I know.  But as I read this devotional, I thought of all the Old Testament believers and the years - literally thousands of years - they hoped and longed for the coming Messiah.  Through the fall, slavery, captivity, good kings and bad kings, famine and judgment, blessing and prosperity - they were always looking foward with longing for the One who would come to bring them into eternal blessing.  I wonder if they ever got discouraged during those long years of expectation.  I wonder if, like me, they ever doubted those promises because of the extended time of waiting.  If you dwell on how long and through what periods of darkness they waited and hoped for their Messiah, the songs that we sing each year - "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" - take on new meaning.  Jesus was the very definition of their hopes and dreams.  And yet, what is so very sad is that when He finally did come, lowly and laid in a manger, they didn't even recognize Him.  He wasn't what they had been looking for all those years. He didn't meet their expectations.  We, with perfect hindsight, look back and say "How could they miss it?".

How blessed we are to live in this age where that hope of a promised Messiah has already been fulfiled. We have the completed Scripture and regardless of current political and social issues, we know how things will end.  Put away the "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" for a while.  Think back to a time before Santa and elves and Christmas decor.....to a time when the only thing people really had to celebrate was the fact that at some nebulous time in the future God would redeem mankind.  And then rejoice that He has come and that we are the recipients of the fulfillment of that hope. That is a true reason to celebrate!

Why is Hospitality So Hard?

Showing hospitality is an area of my life where I've really struggled....and if I'm being honest, still struggle more often than not.  It sounds great to invite someone over to your home and share a meal or just coffee and fellowship.  The Bible tells us to show hospitality.  We love spending time with friends and family. There are lots of reasons why hospitality should be easy.  And yet, often it's just so hard.

When thinking of inviting people over, my perfectionistic tendencies kick into high gear.  I dream of having friends over, enjoying a great meal around our kitchen table, sharing dessert in the living room, playing games amid laughter and fellowship.  Then reality hits and I can think of 10 reasons why this would never work.  I haven't finished my kitchen curtains, the guest bathroom baseboards need a paint touch-up, ALL my baseboards need dusting, my floors haven't been mopped in ages, there's not enough food in the pantry or money in the budget to feel a nice meal to that many people, how will I entertain the kids for the evening....and the list goes on and on.  What ultimately happens is that I pass up the opportunity for hospitality or just "postpone" it until I can accomplish all of these to-dos.  And unfortunately, that future date never arrives.  There is always something else to perfect, something new to try, something else to clean.  Then the end of the year approaches and I can count on two fingers the times I've had anyone over.

What I've come to realize is that I require people to have permission before entering my home.  And you will not be granted permission unless things are perfect.  It's an insular and isolated way to live!  There are probably a handful of people that might feel welcome to drop by our home.  Usually, if you drop by, conversations will be held on the porch or in the foyer (with my eyes constantly cutting to the dust bunnies in the corner), because I'm too paranoid to let people see how we really live (yes, those dust bunnies are regulars around our house, and so are the dishes in the sink, the magazines all over the coffee tables, etc).  By opening my door, I am essentially opening myself up to your opinion on my home, my housekeeping, my decor; and I fear that opinion might not be favorable. So, it's better to just not open that door at all, right?

Wrong!  The Lord has been working on me slowly over the past few years in this area.  When we moved into our current house, I lost my old excuse of "our house is too small to host parties or have people over".  We doubled our square footage and suddenly I had a huge kitchen perfect for entertaining.  But then I found another excuse. That huge kitchen and open floor plan perfect for entertaining had to be kept clean, and cleaning twice the square footage is much harder to do.  So, my new excuse was "our house is not clean enough for company."  I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that hospitality is not about the size of my home, the food I can provide, or the cleanliness and decor of the environment.  Hospitality is about sharing what I DO have with others....small or large, clean or dirty, abundant or sparse.

This holiday season I stepped out on a limb.  Instead of waiting to be invited elsewhere or just getting ready for parties held at another's home, I volunteered our home to host the parties.  Is it stressful? A bit; but I'm finding I'm excited about the possibilities!  A bit more planning and organization (and less procrastinating) have resulted in getting our Christmas decor up earlier than usual and a few days set aside to clean and prepare the house as best I can.  That doesn't mean I'll have time to paint the office (swivel chair marks along the walls will be seen by all), but I might have time to touch up the trim in the guest bathroom.  I won't have time to deep clean the entire house, but I can probably manage to sweep/mop my floors.  I won't be cooking or baking up a storm, but I can certainly provide a table and nice centerpiece for catered food or shared potluck dinners.  And at the end of the day, I hope that our guests will see beyond the dust bunnies (can you ever get rid of them all!?!), the marks on the walls, the tight seating in the dining room, and the lack of 20 different kinds of homemade treats.  I hope that they will see Christ and the love He so freely shared this time of year by being willing to give up the glories and perfection of heaven to walk in our too small, too poor, too dirty world.  If the God of the Universe could share so much, then I can certainly afford to share what I have, be it a little or a lot, with others.

I thank the Lord for each of you who honor me by reading and commenting on what I write.  You have been a blessing and encouragement to me these past few months as I share my heart and opinions (good and bad).  I pray that God will richly bless you and yours during this special holiday season!

**Posting will probably be rare for the rest of the year.  Hosting holiday festivities takes time, you know!**