remember your wellies

every year i welcome advent. it seems to go against all that is going on in the world during the season – gifts, busyness, lists, decorating, stuff, stuff, stuff! advent beacons us to take a moment and want after Christ – to be in the quiet and wait knowing that Emmanuel, God with Us is here.

this year i began december with extensive travel for work – two weeks in a row on the road away from home. because of this, i’ve had more time to contemplate advent – to look out the window of the airplane and think with no connection to the outer world. to pray for Christ to come – to heal me, to heal this world, to heal us. it’s in this quietness with the hum of the plane that indeed, Christ has come.

i came home last weekend for 36 hours – valuable hours with my husband, family, and church community. after rolling my suitcase into the dining room on saturday night, chris informed me that he was playing an advent song (that he wrote!) for church the next day. he asked if I would play violin with him, to which i cowered in fear, even in front of my husband. he played the song for me, i eventually played along and felt Christ, the One of Advent was with us, dwelling in us together as we played.

chris played at church on Sunday morning – it was beautiful, breathtaking, and mesmerizing. i could feel the sense of advent and what the season means descend on the congregation. i am so grateful for a husband who can reveal Christ to me – and this past weekend he did so in such a wonderful way.

Here’s the text of the song (no music unfortunately!) that chris wrote:

In want and in waiting I spend another day
Hoping my sorrow would sooner wane away
Hoping Your promise prove steady underneath
As I light the first candle, falling faint to my knees

In want and in waiting, I spend another day
Holding my heart to You, though my hands may soon give way
Preparing a place for You, though lowly are my means
A second flame strengthens a soul ill at ease.

Still wanting and waiting; the world can’t meet my needs
Happiness was offered; emptiness came to me
Sorrow steals my heart, and weariness my mind
A third candle burns, and a truer joy we find

In want and in waiting, as darkness abounds
This fourth candle lit drives out the sound
Of heaviness falling on hearts ready to die
For love will come soon, in a baby’s first cry

On this day, in this season may we welcome Christ, sit in waiting and let the season of advent do it’s work in us.