ADVENT | Savor Your Season

Advent is unlike any other season. There's extra magic in the air, an expectation that bubbles inside of us, an eagerness in the waiting. But with that eagerness comes a unique willingness to wait. We're ready for the festivities and family get togethers on the horizon, but we don't want the season to end. Advent is a special season where each day is savored, infused with the knowledge that this feeling, this day, will only last for a little while, so we should put as much as we can into it and get as much as we can out of it.

If only I could approach every season this way.

During advent, I find the quiet moments, the stillness, and breathe deep.

During advent, I find more patience for the long check out line at Target.
During advent, my to-do's become have-done's in record time to secure a free hour for that Christmas party.
During advent, I drive a little slower in parking lots, watching families bundled in mittens and scarves scurry to the car.
During advent, I savor the sounds and the scents, trying to memorize each one, because I know it could all be over tomorrow.

I think the advent season is such a reflection of the Lord's desire for our hearts. Each season is intentional, well planned, infused with God's presence, and its ours for the taking. It's ours for the savoring. But often we --or at least I-- see what's up ahead, or think I know what I want to happen in the next season, and I barrel forward. I push and press and pray for a change in season, and I miss out on what's right in front of me.

The temptation is there with advent, too. 2015 is just around the corner, and amidst the red poinsettia Starbucks cups and holiday deals, a plethora of goals setting tips and work out plans and New Years savings begin to pop up. Get ready for the next big, BEST thing! The advertisers know this is how we're programed.

I say we take back the waiting. I say we make intentional moves to savor the season. THIS season of advent. OUR season of life. MY season of grad school, singleness, whatever it might be.

Look at today.
Look at the center of it.
Give thanks for what you have where you are.
Ask the Lord what it is He has for you HERE.
Trust Him with tomorrow, and press into HIM and His Word today.
Find joy in the waiting. Savor your season.