I can't wait!

Well, the season is upon us. Thanksgiving is past, and it's officially time to start the march towards Christmas. The radio is playing holiday music, the specials are on T.V., and the stores are decked out in all the red and green and gold you can handle. Even Starbucks has the red cups out...

Brady has been SO excited for the lights to be put on the house. Like I always do, I planned to put them up the weekend before Thanksgiving and take advantage of the nice weather. Well, circumstances prevailed and I found myself up on the roof Sunday late afternoon trying to get them hung before the rain came. I have to say, the boy was beside himself with joy. For weeks he'd been asking when we were going to do lights...when would we turn them on...when? When? WHEN?!?!!? So to finally get it all done, it was a great feeling. We got most everything else in the house done, got the tree up, and...'it's beginning to look a lot like...'

One thing, however. We didn't put the baby Jesus in the nativity set. We wait until Christmas day to do that. He isn't quite ok with the why -- why would we wait? The set isn't complete, the job's not done...when will we put Him in?

So I'm excited for this journey with him this year -- his little mind is starting to spin on this spiritual stuff, and I'm really curious to see where he comes out during the next month. Advent begins on Sunday; it's the church season of anticipation. The entire Christmas narrative is filled with this stuff -- an urgent waiting, a longing, a hoping, for something, or more accurately, SOMEONE!

In advance of more Advent sorts of thoughts (I'm going to try to post daily!), think about this -- what are you anticipating? What are you hoping for? What does it mean for you to wait with longing for Jesus? Ask your families...let me know what they say!