Sunday, December 6, 2015

First Week of Advent: Expecting Emmanuel



Last Sunday we learned that God promised right from the garden of Eden to provide a bridge over the chasm Adam and Eve put between humans and their holy Creator and for the pride they unleashed in all our hearts. Since we long to be closer to Him, we wait for this solution, our Savior, Jesus.

Monday, our hibiscus bloomed! I had put it outside in the sunshine all summer. Ever hoping for blooms and figuring if hibiscus bushes bloom in winter in Florida, certainly our little plant would be loving our summer sun, I frequently checked it for buds. July. Nothing. August. Rien. September. Nada. October. Still no buds. But when I brought it inside in November, I noted what seemed to be five (FIVE!) tiny buds. They take their sweet time unfurling, which prolongs the anticipation. Monday’s flower was the third in recent weeks. Two more to go.

Tuesday I took Mom a little jar of Robert’s pot roast, another jar of cousin Margie’s cranberry-pear-orange relish, and carrot-parsnip soup. Mom said she thought the soup needed cinnamon. It did need something, but I’d not used cinnamon because it didn’t seem to go with parsnip. And I’d altered the recipe to include parsnip because I know Mom likes it, and I’d gone to two grocery stores to find a parsnip that wasn’t desiccated. Truth be told, what I thought the soup needed was no parsnip (haha). Mom came up with the idea of adding cilantro, which appealed to her palate. Looking forward to finding a new carrot soup recipe!
Wednesday and Thursday, I sought caffeine, then rest after a frustrating, sleepless night, Robert had his last kidney stone blasted to smithereens, and I made pumpkin-squash soup before my October farmers market pumpkin and butternut squash withered away. I have no photos of coffee, kidney stones, or stringy squash innards. Physical malaise and maladies and rotting veggies—thanks a lot, Adam and Eve. Someday God will redeem all that.

Friday I set up my grandma’s crèche, and Robert installed the electric “star.” In the spirit of Advent, I probably shouldn’t have put the baby Jesus there until December 25. But I find comfort in seeing Him there now because ADVENT PLOT SPOILER ALERT: Jesus has already come and closed the gap for people who want God’s grace and truth in their lives. And I could happily spend the next three weeks being touched by the shepherd kneeling to worship his Shepherd, to anticipate Emmanuel, heaven come to earth.
Borrowing the last line of each O Little Town of Bethlehem stanza:

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. Psalm 62:5