Tag: Advent (Page 3 of 3)

Pregnant, part 3

December 14, 2012 /

This week I’m thinking about Mary and three spiritual practices that may help us prepare for Christmas.  You can read the first in the series here  and here if you want.

I’m not good at the practice of silence and solitude.  I like chatter and hustle and bustle because they feel productive.

Silence and solitude, at least from a distance, seem well, lonely and unconstructive. Like  waiting for a bus you’re not sure is coming.

However, though it’s not my go-to mode, over the years I’ve grudgingly come to experience great value in the discipline of being alone and quiet with God.

When I look at the account of the first Christmas, it’s not that there wasn’t chaos, confusion, and noise.  “The little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes”??  Are you kidding?

Continue reading

Pregnant, part 1

December 10, 2012 /

Good morning!

As we move closer to Christmas it’s easy to let the busyness of preparation hijack my attention and ability to be present to God, so I thought I’d share posts this week that will each focus on a different spiritual practice that might be helpful.  It’s important for me as a spiritual ADD girl for sure, and I hope helpful for you too.

peace,                                                                                                                            Laura

I love Mary (as in mother of Jesus Mary).  Which is a little weird cuz I really bristle at some of what sometimes feels like the overboard Catholic put-her-on-a-pedestal-next-to-Jesus stuff.

IMG_2994

She’s no shiny white above-the-fray-bullet-proof other-worldly woman.

But still.  I think she’s amazing and I’m fascinated with her.

Continue reading

An Advent Sunday Morning

December 2, 2012 /

As I write this it is the first Sunday morning of Advent.  It’s foggy and ugly outside my Starbucks window, but I live in Minnesota so I know snow is right around the corner which makes me so happy.

I’m an early morning person, but I know many are just now lumbering, hustling, shivering, or springing out of bed.  Some to get kids dressed and combed.  Some, bumping around a dark empty house or apartment alone.  Getting ready for worship.

Some will be driving to church with an attitude of habitual going-through-the-motions resignation.

But for me…and for most I think, there is always a glimmer of expectation.  As small as a twinkle light, but it’s there for sure.  A tiny bit of hope that we’ll meet God in that worship space and hear a whisper from Him.

Continue reading

On Mary and Getting Ready

November 28, 2012 /

It’s coming on christmas
They’re cutting down trees
They’re putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace.

Joni Mitchell’s been singing those lyrics in my brain today.

It’s coming on Christmas…

and we’re in “getting ready mode”.

John’s been gone at meetings in Houston so I’ve been using the time to get the house ready for Christmas.

And, as I wrote last week, our daughter Maggie got engaged and would like an early summer wedding, so we’re getting ready for that which means constant g-chats and texts with the girls in D.C., and phone calls to check dates with…well, everyone.

And then over the weekend the “to do’s” of Christmas hit me.  You know, like when you’ve noticed that it started snowing but then you don’t look outside for awhile and when you look again you can’t believe how it’s piled up.  There’s a lot that I’ve promised to do that has snuck up on me like a silent snow drift.

And I’m grateful for a full life, but I need to get ready for all of it.

This morning, in between doing all this getting ready stuff there were several distinct moments of silence and solitude when it felt like God said, “Hold it.  Shhhh.  I’m here.”

And in those moments I wondered what getting ready for Christmas really looks like.

Continue reading

Come Holy Spirit

December 16, 2011 /

I was maneuvering laboriously, with stops and starts, through the parking lot at Costco yesterday, thinking for the millionth time that the Costco parking lot is either an outer ring of hell or a brilliant opportunity for spiritual formation.  

As I dodged runaway giant shopping carts,

and waited for pedestrians absorbed in studying their shopping lists wandering blindly in the middle of the row,

and backed up for cars in front of me that slammed on their brakes upon spying the tell-tale white reverse lights of a car vacating a parking place they could nab…

I thought of a spiritual practice a friend of mine has been advocating.  The simple practice of saying “Come Holy Spirit” throughout the day in situations like this that require patience, understanding, and discipline beyond me.

Continue reading

Labor of Love?

December 5, 2011 /

I’ve never heard either of my parents swear, but I have many memories of my mom, frustrated with a task, saying “I’m gonna swear.  I’m gonna swear! Close your ears kids!”                                                                                                                                                She never did, but she threatened to.  A lot.

There are some things that tempt a person to swear more than others. For me, the job of untangling Christmas lights brings out the worst in me.  I spent hours doing it this weekend, growling under my breath:

1.  “I’m sure this must be a job people have to do in Hell.”

2.  “If God really loved me I’d be rich enough to buy new lights every year.”

I was muttering, and resenting my husband who was off doing “spiritual” things, having “spiritual” conversations with colleagues, while I was relegated to “unspiritual” homey decorating chores.

Continue reading

The Question to ask this Christmas Season

November 28, 2011 /

Most of us, full of Thanksgiving turkey, football, family fun (if you have a healthy family) or family angst (if yours is more dysfunctional) are ready to glide into the Christmas season like Santa on a sleigh filled with toys.

We’re also ready to ask the crucial questions of the season:

  • Is it really “Christian” to say “Happy Holidays”?  Is “Merry Christmas” in the Bible?
  • Is Santa a bad idea and what about that pesky new interloper, “Elf on the Shelf”? What’s a parent to do?
  • What’s the best way to manage the animals in a live nativity? (wrangling a camel is no small feat)
  • And along those same lines, is it appropriate to approach a pregnant woman in October or November and call dibs on her baby for the creche?
  • What’s the proper etiquette for Christmas Eve candle lighting?  Who tips and who holds their candle upright so there is no wax leakage or hair flameouts?
  • Is it legal to roll out ready-made Pilsbury sugar cookie dough for cutouts and pass them off as homemade?

I was thinking about this this morning as I was making my 18-foot long “to do” list.  I love to do lists!  I love EVERYTHING about Christmas!  But, like I wrote last week, I think that the activity of Christmas can hinder the activity of God in my life.  So while the questions above may be critical for some, the one question I want to ask myself daily this Advent season is,

“Will Christmas still come if I don’t do this one thing?”

If I say “no” to this invitation?

If I don’t make this gift?

If I don’t have this new decoration?

If I’m not the one to host?

What’s the one thing it would be a good idea to put on your “don’t do” list this season?  Really.  I’d love to hear.

I woke up this morning thinking of something John Ortberg once said, “Sometimes sleep is the most spiritual thing you can do.”

Christmas Elves, the Dark Side

November 25, 2011 /

I love Christmas.  Maybe too much.

I might have been a Christmas Elf in another life.  I’m one of those obnoxious people who starts playing Christmas music the day after Halloween (admit it, there are others reading this that are with me).

When we first moved to Minnesota two women invited me to join them in a Bible study.  Right before Christmas we met at the home of one of them.  Both said they weren’t going to decorate for Christmas because it was too much hassle.  We did not become friends and the Bible study lasted about as long as Christmas cookies that are anywhere near my husband.

But as much as I dive in with jolly holiday gusto, I fear that the activity of Christmas can hinder the activity of God in me.

Continue reading

Newer posts »

© 2024 Laura Crosby

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑