In my former life I taught 3rd grade by day and was involved in campus ministry at Western Michigan University by night.

Classroom – Eat
Campus – Sleep
Repeat.

It was great. I had the energy of a 20-something and the conviction that I was participating in important kingdom work. And I was.

Thirty miles on the I-94 corridor bridged the two five days a week. It was my adult time (if you consider a 20-something an adult) between the 8 year olds and the 18 year olds. The three others in our carpool and I debriefed and solved the world’s problems in that daily commute. It fed my extrovert nature and helped on the financial end.

As my third year of teaching began, I sensed the need to drop the carpool. Something (someone) whispered, Sue your biggest need is 30 minutes of quiet. No conversation, no radio, no cassettes, just quiet. That was new.

Some days I used that quiet to pray; other days to review scripture; sometimes I just looked at the trees; and some days I did nothing but drive. It was good — I gave myself permission to pause.

Advent, a time of anticipation; Christmas is coming.

How will I spend these days? Like my first two years of teaching robotically moving from one thing to the next or like my third year giving myself permission to pause.

The angel’s message to the shepherds was “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14 (bolding mine)

Paul also highlights the peace we as believers have. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God …” Romans 5:1 (again, bolding mine)

As I remember Advents past, this rebukes and challenges. As a child of God, peace is mine. The question remains, how do I experience that which is already mine?

By giving myself permission to pause.

This Advent season, I’m propping my day with two pauses:

a morning pause: With my steaming cup of coffee, I’m taking time to sit and enjoy the beauty of December. I’m learning that the pause lends perspective that leads to peace. My friend Sally Breedlove says that “rest is allowing the present to be imperfect.” That just might be the perspective God has for me that day.

an evening pause: This time my mug holds decaf and I’m enjoying a favorite Christmas novel.

What would giving yourself permission to pause this Advent look like for you?
How might it change your enjoyment of the Christmas season?

Advent is a season pregnant with hope and expectancy, weeks of preparation for contemplating and then receiving the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Advent welcomes the incarnation into every home of those who celebrate it, but along with it there is the tension about the choices we must make. Will busyness define how we wait for Jesus to come? Or will quiet contemplation be our sweet surrender while we wait? Similarly, Sabbath asks not, “What will you give up for him?’ but “How will you wait for him to come?”  Shelly Miller, Rhythms of Rest.

You might also enjoy this post by my friend Marian Vischer. Her delightful way with words will keep you returning to her blog. Here she offers five insights for staying merry and bright this Advent season.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6 (bolding mine)

 

 

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