It's the season of Advent, the time set aside for celebration and reflection as we count down to Christmas day. "Advent" means (from the American Heritage Dictionary) "The coming or arrival of something or someone that is important or worthy of note." As a tradition, the celebration of this season has been around for at least 1,500 years...but it's not something I grew up with in a Southern Baptist/Methodist family. This year, though, I feel drawn to focus in these days leading up to Christmas. This first week, my focus is hope. When we generally talk about hope, our meaning usually leans more toward wishing for something. We talk about something we would like to see happen, but something we're really not sure about...we hope for our team to win a game, we hope to get a certain gift, we hope to get to go on a vacation, we hope for a certain political outcome. There's a secondary definition of hope, though--to have confidence or trust...
just me, stepping out of the boat in faith, trying not to focus on the waves around me