For many, the excitement and expectation of the Christmas season is missing. It is incongruous with the reality of their daily lives…..lost relationships, broken dreams and unmet needs.  The bright lights and bustling crowds remind them, painfully, of the loss in their lives.  Think of Mary and Joseph.  They, along with the people of Israel, were expecting the Messiah to come as the Savior, Who would defeat their enemies and put everything right. Instead, their personal lives were turned upside down and they were left wondering. What happened to the promised rescue by their Messiah? Mary, a young, unmarried girl carried a baby, and Joseph, facing scandal and ruin, supported her as they walked into an unknown and precarious future.  But in the womb of that pregnant teenage girl lay the Hope of the World.

My own life reflects that incongruety.  The expectation of God’s blessing, yet dealing with the sense of loss. The “boxes” of my expectations keep getting smashed, and I think the Lord is behind it.  The flesh and world patterns continue to break apart and disappoint.  I thought security was money in the bank, but it is really knowing God is paying attention and cares, and that is enough.  I thought church growth was a big church filled with happy and Godly people but it is leading one lady to the Lord and see her leading thousands to Him.  So now, at age 60, I believe in Jesus because He was born in a manger died on the cross, rose from the dead and listens to me when I pray and cry.  I know the life He calls me to is redemptive, eternal and ever-expanding.