It Came to me in a Dream

Last night just as I lay my head down for a nice cozy slumber a thought flashed through my head like a bolt of lightning.
It was the topic for my blog today.
I was so excited about it I started my "pre-write" in my head.  It was relevant, it was important, it was the perfect topic for today.
Then I fell asleep and now I have no idea what the topic was, at all.
I spent the better part of an hour this morning doing laundry and cleaning up the house while thinking about what it was I was going to write about.  I thought over each moment of my day yesterday hoping to shake something loose in my head, but I had no luck.
So, I gave up on the blog post and sat down to my other writing task of this day: Advent.
I have used a variety of methods and materials each year to make each day of Advent important for our family, but nothing really quite fit.  It worked, but I always felt like something was just a little off.  This year I decided I was going to write my own Advent series tailored to fit my family, this year.
It is a difficult undertaking and each time I have sat down over the past week to write something I find myself distracted by one thing or another and I haven't written down a single word.
Advent Sunday is THIS Sunday so today is the day I have to get rolling on this!
I poured a cup of coffee and sat down with my Bible and some other materials and started to think and read.  I have a great book that would work...perhaps I should throw another load of laundry in the dryer and just use the book?
But then it came to me.  Not in a flash like my blog post idea last night, but a puzzle worked together with the story I want my kids to hear and the passion I want to ignite in them over the next four weeks!
I feverishly worked to get all my ideas down before they disappear into the great abyss and then my brain started multi-tasking and I realized why I can't recall what in the world I was planning to write about today: today I need to write this awesome Advent plan for my family.
Sometimes the things we want to do are not the things we should do, even if they are generally good things.  I hope I'll eventually remember what I wanted to write about, but for now, I was taught my first lesson of Advent.
The first candle lit for Advent is hope.  Hope, not as in "I hope I win the lottery" but as in "because He has proven himself faithful and true, I have hope in Christ Jesus".  The Messiah was the only hope left for the people of Israel.  They had seen Kings and Judges fail them, they had been free and been enslaved, there was nothing on earth left for them until Jesus Christ entered the picture.  Advent is about the anticipation of the arrival of our only true hope.  In the parable of the Ten Virgins, 5 ladies were prepared for the bridegroom and 5 were not.
Am I prepared for the return of Christ?  I am.  But am I prepared for my calling to teach my children this Advent season?  No I am not.  Am I the only one seeing irony in this?  I was not prepared for Advent which is an aspect of the topic of the first week of Advent.  Lame.
Thankfully, I haven't missed my opportunity!  I'm really excited about what I have brewing and can't wait to share it with you.


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