The first Sunday in December is a busy one in our church. The Christmas Cantata is a big production: adult, children, and college choirs, musicians, pipe organ, and handbells (that’s us). The sanctuary glows with white lights and greenery. Our church has 3 morning services of traditional and contemporary praise and worship with carols and communion.
It was a wonderful, worshipful time, but I knew we’d all be tired by the evening. It was tempting to shorten our family night–or even move it–but what a loss that would have been.
The theme of our second week in Advent was “concern for others” and our activity was to make cards for people with whom we want to share the joy and love of Jesus during this Advent season. My 2-year-old son wanted to make a card for a friend at school. He scribbled a picture, stuck on some stickers, signed his name, and danced around with his card–singing his friend’s name. My 5-year-old made his best friend “the best card he’s ever seen.” My husband and I chose family members who are facing tough illnesses.
The most beautiful part of the evening was the time when we shared when each of us felt close to God that week. I wasn’t sure that my preschool boys would understand the question, but my older son got very excited. He called out, “We feel close to Jesus when we praise him!”
I reflected on the joy I’d felt that morning as the choir and congregation sang carols and songs of praise–telling and retelling the Christmas story and offering praise to God for the gift of salvation. Each song was like a present held out to Jesus–”Master, open this one!” At the time I’d wished I could bottle that closeness up to save for later. My son reminded me that I don’t have to. Just praising brings me close to my Lord all over again.
I pray that I will have a child-like heart during this Advent season; that I will offer praise to Jesus with the full assurance that he is close. Emmanuel. God with us.
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About Karen Wilber
Karen Wilber (MA Biblical Studies) has a lifelong love of storytelling, both written and oral. She developed a passion for scripture after being challenged by a pastor to read the Bible in a year. She dovetailed these two loves into the telling of stories from the Bible, particularly the book of Ruth and the parables of Jesus. Her master’s thesis, The Character of God in the Book of Ruth: Traditional Rabbinic and Current Evangelical Interpretations explored the characteristics of God revealed within the story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz.
Karen has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s in Library and Information Science. She has worked as a teacher, librarian, and corporate trainer and is currently a stay-at-home mom.
Her writing has been featured in MomSense,Women of Passions, Computers in Libraries, and other library association newsletters.
Her blog, Along the Way (http://karenalongtheway.blogspot.com), is a combination of scriptural reflections and the joy of being a stay-at-home mom with two active preschoolers.
Her latest project is a Bible study on the book of Ruth.
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