Advent, A Baby Changes Everything

I've been sick. We both have. Nothing serious, but enough to be miserable, especially with the holidays coming. We went out shopping this week. I have to admit, neither of us had much Christmas spirit. It's been two weeks, so I'm sure we are not contagious, but between hacking and coughing and runny nose, I feel grumpy, and I'm sure people around us wish we'd just go away. Jim says I should carry a box of Kleenex with me. Maybe I could put one on a string and carry it like a purse. We hurried through our list and went back to the motorhome as quickly as possible. Yesterday I wrapped and mailed all of our out-of-town gifts. I feel relieved, but not particularly filled with good will towards man.


About Christmas. I love Christmas. I want to be excited to celebrate the birth of my Savior. The reality of the holiday gets lost so easily in the hustle and bustle and all the things we think we "need" to do, that it's hard to recapture the spirit of the "holy day." And life intrudes. This year our precious son-in-law Gary is battling an invasive cancer. Dear friends are struggling with health issues. It's hard to feel festive in the midst of life. I heard a song the other day that really made me think. What must it have been like for Mary that first Christmas? She was betrothed - engaged to be married. Her people were under the iron-rule of the Romans, who demanded taxes and required a census to be taken. They didn't have census workers who came to the house. They had to travel on foot, with perhaps a donkey to carry their necessities, to their ancestral home, about 80 miles away. Then, to complicate matters, God decided it was time to send the Messiah. A Baby Changes Everything.

Prophets had predicted the coming of Jesus. In Isaiah 11: 1-2, 6 & 10, the Messiah's birth and lineage is foretold. And Mary knew her scripture. We can assume that based on her response to the angel and her words to her cousin Elizabeth in the "Magnificat" quoted in Luke 1: 47-55. Still, I'm sure she'd never considered the possibility that God would choose her to fulfill His plan. In an instant, her life was turned upside down, and the world has never been the same.

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1: 26-38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y0_wNPSOaw&feature=youtu.be

Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

Isaiah, the prophet of The LORD of Heaven’s Armies (Isaiah 1:9) lived 700 years before Christ was born, and spent his ministry warning Israel and Judah about their sins and God’s judgment, calling them to repent. The powerful Assyrian army was advancing.

From Isaiah 1: 10, 15-20. Sounds like he could be talking to us today.

¹⁰ Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”

¹⁵ When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.

¹⁶ Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways.

¹⁷ Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

¹⁸ “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.

¹⁹ If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat.

²⁰ But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (New Living Testament)

But that’s not the end of it. Later on, Isaiah writes a passage that has become one of the most beautiful songs of all times. Handel’s Messiah. Isaiah 9: 2 & 6-7 foretells the coming of the Christ child. Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

²  The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

⁶ For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders.

And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷ His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! (New Living Testament)

  

Isaiah began warning the people of Israel and Judah about their destruction because of God's judgment against them, but then he tells of the Assyrian’s destruction and God’s divine plan. God's plan isn't just for Israel and Judah -- not just for His chosen people, but for the entire world. For me. And that is why I celebrate Advent.

Here is a You Tube of part of Handel's Messiah for your listening inspiration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN5BaOGTmGs

A Most Exciting Time

The coming of Christmas means different things to different people. Holidays. Shopping. Giving. Receiving. Decorating. Singing carols. Listening to Run, Run, Rudolph or Santa Baby, ad nauseam. (I'm already tired of them. Seems to be all XM radio offers.) To some it means loneliness and pain, and yet it is the hope for all nations that someday the pain and loneliness will end and Joy will reign.

One of my favorite years, out at the ranch, we had the whole family together. We all got red PJs, or house pants, as Gary would say. We posed for a picture in front of the fireplace. The girls have grown a bit since then, and I have a few more gray hairs, but those years at the ranch were magical times of big house parties and food and games and presents, but also of sharing the Christmas story and worshiping our Redeemer.

To me, the weeks leading up to Christmas are fun, hectic, sometimes stressful, but behind all the hype, it means celebrating that my Savior came to the world as a tiny baby, in the most humble circumstance, to save the world. We've celebrated Advent at church, lighting a candle each week and reading passages from the account of Christ's birth, and we had an advent calendar almost every year when our kids were small. This year, I want to take time to contemplate and celebrate the advent, the coming of the Lord Jesus.

What is Advent? Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, meaning 'coming.' I've seen it defined as the fourth Sunday before Christmas and the first Sunday in December. This year, that would be December 1st by either definition.

The Bible is filled with prophesies about the coming of Jesus Christ. The stage was set from the beginning. When man and woman decided they knew better than God (Ouch - like I've never done that!) The woman - Eve - blamed the serpent for her disobedience. (Ouch again. I would never blame someone else for my bad decisions or actions. Right.)

Genesis 3: 14-15 Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring [prophesy about Christ]. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” 

I've been amazed, reading through the Bible, how many times the old testament refers to the Messiah. Googling old testament references to the coming of Messiah, I find lots of differing thoughts. One sight claims there are 400 references to Christ's coming. Another claims over 60 prophesies and 300 references. However many there are, there are many.

This past winter we visited friends in Cincinnati, Ohio and attended the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of History. What an amazing exhibit. We saw the actual jars, or clay vats that held the scrolls. We saw many artifacts from that time, and many pieces and sections of the scrolls that have been reassembled. Among them was one of the Isaiah scrolls. They found several of these, all copies from the original. This one was the oldest and most complete scroll found. It is believed to have been made 125 years before Christ, and hidden in the caves at Qumran about 70 AD, when the Romans laid siege to the Jews. http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah

It gave me chills to be in the presence of the scrolls and the artifacts that, to me, confirm my faith. I am going through the Christmas story this Advent season, and invite you to come along with me.

Day 11, Thankful for Those Who Serve

I don't have any digital photos of the men in my life during their military service, but I am thankful for all of them, and for all men and women who have served the causes of freedom throughout history. And I am thankful for those who still serve today.

I married a sailor. I don't have a picture of him in uniform. I really must scan all those old photos.

Thank you, Chief James L Jeffers, for serving in the US Navy, 1965-1976. He was a Fire Control Technician on nuclear fast attack submarines. He never saw duty in Viet Nam, but was an active part of the Cold War.












He is in this picture somewhere. I remember standing with a crowd on the docks in Groton, CT the day the Archerfish was launched. It was freezing cold. My feet were numb. The men had to stand at attention on the metal deck during the ceremony and as the huge hulk slid into the icy waters of the Thames River. Jim's mustache was a frozen icicle when he finally got off the boat.




My father, David Roy Coleman, Jr, served in the Army during World War ll, though he never went to battle. He was stationed in Texas, working as an accountant, serving 1,300 miles away from his wife and children. Thank you for your service, Dad. I am a war baby, conceived during a weekend leave and hurried trip to the Grand Canyon - the half-way point between my mom and dad. I am one of the first wave of baby boomers.

My father-in-law, Beryl L Jeffers served in the Army Infantry during WWll. He was captured in Germany and held in Stalag 11b Fallingbostel Prussia Work Camp until the end of the war. He suffered injuries that effected him for the rest of his life, but he never complained or let it slow him down. Thank you, Dad.

A friend posted a wonderful prayer on Facebook today (thank you Hallee the Homemaker). This prayer was delivered right before The Battle of the Bulge. It is appropriate still today.

By direction of General George S. Patton, Third Army Commander, Msgr. James H. O'Neill, Chief Chaplain of the Third Army, wrote and published Training Letter #5 in December 1944, which reads in part:

"Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace.

"We must march together, all out for God...We are not trying to make the best of these days. It is our job to make the most of them. Now is not the time to follow God from 'afar off.' This Army needs the assurance and the faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail."

Amen and Amen.

Day 9, Thankfulness

Today I'm thankful for my daughter and granddaughters, and the chance to spend time together. I'm wishing my sweet daughter-in-love and other two granddaughters were here with us. It's baking day. Spending time together in the kitchen is such joy!

Right now, the girls have all gone to the gym for a quick workout. I'm sitting by the fireplace in my daughter Laura's house, having a cup of Chai latte and waiting for the oven timer. The peach crisp, from this year's crop of Green Bluff's peaches that I'd frozen and brought along in the motorhome, is baking. I have to admit, it's easier to cook in Laura's kitchen, even with three of us working. 

With working full time, fixing good meals gets difficult, so Laura tries to cook up a month's worth of main dishes at a time. Today we made chicken divan, chicken and rice casseroles, chicken pot pies and burritos. They are packaged, labeled and stacked in the refrigerator, ready for the freezer.

Then for quick snacks, there's pizza crescents. Cheese and pepperoni rolled in crescent rolls. Looks yummy enough to eat!

Spending time with teenaged girls is always a treat. They showed me hilarious You Tube videos. What Does the Fox Say, and It's a Dad's Life. Now I'm "in the know." It's nice to be able to understand when they giggle at those "inside jokes." I also got a full preview of the prom dress wish list. So fun! Now that all my kids and granddaughters live so far away, I feel extra blessed to be able to share these moments.

Thankful, Day 8

Yesterday I posted that it was a hard day to be thankful, and I had to turn to the Psalms, specifically Psalm 66. The outpouring of prayers and compassion from so many friends blew me away.

Today I am thankful for friends and family, and for the amazing technology of the Internet that allows us to be part of each others' lives daily and to hold each other up in prayer. Your prayers were felt. And appreciated!

I'm thankful that a nun lived over a hundred years ago. Born in 1856, she became Sister Mary Joseph Dempsey, then she became a nurse. She worked as the surgical assistant to Dr. William James Mayo from 1890 until 1915. She has many great accomplishments, but she observed that patients who had a particular nodule, or node in the area of the umbilicus (belly button) had cancer that had metastasized from another organ in the abdominal region. http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/2984.html

Yesterday we met Dr. Dustan Osborn, Gary's new oncologist. He talked to us in terms we could understand. He's the one who introduced us to Sister Mary Joseph and that background on the node on Gary's abdomen. In a nutshell (and not particularly scientifically stated) while a baby is still developing in the womb, the umbilical cord supplies all the nutrients needed from the mother to the baby. Various tubes run from the umbilicus to the digestive organs in the body that then distribute it to the blood stream and the rest of the body. Those tubes are no longer used after a baby is born, and the umbilical cord is cut, but they are still there. As I understand it, cancer cells can migrate along those unused tubes back to the umbilicus, where they form a nodule. That is Sister Mary Joseph's Nodule.

Today, I am thankful that Gary's surgery was delayed. It seemed frustrating that things weren't moving faster. We all wanted the doctors to get in there and fix it. But then Gary felt a lump near his belly button. He almost didn't tell the doctor. He thought it seemed insignificant. I am thankful that he did tell his primary doctor. That led to a hernia repair surgery and a biopsy. And that changed how his cancer will be treated. No more surgery. Now the focus will be radiation and chemotherapy. I am thankful for advances in medical research that make treatment available and easier on the patient than it was twenty-five years ago when my mother-in-law went through treatment. And for the prayers of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who haven't even met Gary, and that God hears our prayers and is faithful to answer.

Day 5, 30 Days of Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for a new day. New starts. New opportunities. Yesterday was one of those days when nothing seemed to go right. First thing was a dead battery in the Jeep. Jim put it into neutral and pushed it close to the motorhome battery, so he could jumpstart it. It didn't want to start or stay running. The old  Jeep (1998 with 160,000+ miles) has a new battery, so we feared it had serious electrical issues. Finally got it running. We figured out, the seatbelt got stuck in the door when it closed, and it kept the overhead light on all night. Blessing - the car charged up and is running fine.

Then we'd lost a nut on Jim's bike fender, so the fender fell off. Blessing - it didn't fall off while we traveled. It waited until he took it off the bike rack.

Can't get cable TV working. As Jim tried to hook it up, he discovered an antenna wire was very hot. Blessing - he discovered it before it started a fire. Porch light not working. Hot water heater won't work on AC. Blessing - it does work on propane, so we have hot water. Leak on accessory hose for toilet. Refrigerator suddenly quit working on AC. Blessing - it came back on when we turned off a heater. Both key fobs stopped working on motorhome. Blessing - new batteries fixed them. Jim forgot to pack a box of my books. Oh well. They'll still be there when we get home in the spring.

And the topper - we got a parking ticket in Olympia because we didn't have enough change. Gary's insurance appointment took 50 minutes, and we only had 35 minutes on the meter. Oops. So we are making a $15.00 donation to the City of Olympia. A dollar a minute. Pretty expensive parking. There must be a blessing there somewhere.

Today, we get to see Laura. Tonight, we get to watch a Tumwater High soccer game. They are playing District Playoffs. Kathryn is on the team. She shares the goalie position with another player, so I hope she gets to play tonight. Go Thunderbirds!!!

Wendy Beeghley Photography