Jesus

[Click here for the Intro to Christmas ADVENTure 2018]

People are in a hurry. (I’m looking at you, Reflection.)

A LOT of people are in a hurry to put up their Christmas decorations, and it seems to get earlier and earlier each year.

I am a stickler for nothing Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Usually, my tree goes out in early- to mid- December, but this year, that bad boy was up while the turkey leftovers were still in my refrigerator.

A post on The Art of Simple got me to thinking.

What if we decorated a bit slower this year? Or next year if you’re me.

What if we, day-by-day, decorated like a slow crescendo to the big day?

It sounds crazy, right? Maybe impossible. The practical side of me is wondering what in the world I would do with the boxes while I slowly unpacked it all. But what if it was possible? What would that look like in your home?

Advent means “arrival.” God’s people waited for the arrival of their Jesus. They waited thousands of years for His coming.

Sometimes they worked while they waited.

Sometimes, God spoke.

Sometimes, He didn’t.

Sometimes, it seemed His arrival was right around the corner.

Sometimes, it felt like God had forgotten.

And often times, it felt like it would never come.

But still…they waited. And God waited too…for the perfect time.

All through the Bible, all through the long years, God has been waiting for exactly the right time to send his great gift. He has been waiting for Christmas! – The Storybook Bible Advent Guideby Sally Lloyd-Jones.

So, this year (or next) think about decorating your tree a little slower to honor those who waited and to remind us that we are waiting for Him to come again.

Confession: I don’t drink coffee. Although there are other reasons, the bitter aftertaste and the possibility of slowly staining my teeth sealed the deal for me. (Call me a snob, but I’m pretty protective about my teeth and general oral hygiene.) I made a decision when I was about 13 that I didn’t have an interest in coffee, and I was going to be okay with that.

Here’s the rub: Coffeehouses are where it’s at! A childhood friend and I have a standing tradition to meet at a coffee shop every Christmas Eve and catch up. Tough conversations happen in cafes, and awkward first dates happen there. Good grief, I know of someone who slipped her phone number to a barista at a local shop, and today they’re married! What is it with the coffeehouse phenomenon?

I’ve read that coffeehouses go all the way back to the early 1500s, serving as the center of social gatherings where the public could read the paper, organizations conducted business, and people exchanged ideas. By the 17th century in England, they were a “social leveler” of sorts, inviting all people into a common place, regardless of social or economic status.

Based on that concept, I imagine that if Jesus were walking around London back then, he might very much like to duck into a place like that, where folks were learning, connecting, sharing about anything and everything, no matter where they’d been, or where they were going. I think he’d order the house roast, black, and pull up a chair. He loves to relate. He loves to visit and catch up. He loves to share, and to listen.

That’s what happens at coffeehouses, and that’s what we hope to do here. Grab a hot beverage, pull up a chair, get real, and visit our coffeehouse. Even though I have no idea what an “Iced Single Venti Mocha, No Whip” is, praise be to God, I’ve discovered steamers, ciders, and hot chocolates that give me something safe to cradle in my hands and sip on, while I connect with people. So, let’s hear it!