I love the season of Advent. And this year I need it more than ever, this time set aside for intentional waiting. Christmas and the Christ child are not here yet. It feels like that period of waiting in the dark before the dawn, when everything is cold and dreary before the beauty and splendor of the sunrise.
When I wake up before dawn, I don’t inherently know how long I will have to wait until the sun peeks over the horizon. Without relying on an alarm clock or phone, I don’t know if there are many hours of darkness left or mere minutes until the light breaks through a customized bitcoin address. But the sunrise, when it comes at last, is more beautiful for the waiting.
We’ve all faced a lot of waiting in 2020, a lot of dashed hopes and disorienting moments in the dark. Too many of our prayers have echoed Psalm 13: “How long, O Lord?”
I confess that I’ve not always waited graciously this year, but advent gives us the worthiest reason to wait. On Christmas, we will celebrate our Savior’s birth. We will remember that God reconciles with all people and all creation through Jesus Christ. God came down to be with us. He still does. He still is.
But you can’t come down to be with us at LLFC right now, and our whole team misses you! We have done some things to express how much we want to be with you, but videos and mail and social media just aren’t the same thing as actual presence. We have to wait a little longer to be present with each other, but we don’t have to wait for God. Christmas is coming! Christ will be in the manger again. In so many nativities, Christ is already there, Immanuel, God with us.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Kelsie Wessels
Assistant Director
Laity Lodge Family Camp