An Advent Series: HOPE
By MVC Guest Author, Lisa Cox
Good things are going to happen.
This has been written on the chalkboard in my dining room since early summer. It was a daily reminder that things weren’t always going to be this way. In a time of grieving from losses due to the pandemic I left it through the Fall as a reminder to have hope when we endured an even more personal loss.
I just recently asked my husband if he thought I should change it to something festive for the holidays. He countered with the question, “Does it still have meaning for you?” I replied that it did because I was still waiting with expectation for that “BIG good thing” to happen; for life to return to normal. Sometimes in the waiting for hope it was helpful and sometimes a reminder that hope can hurt. It hurts because my expectation for what I wanted for my life, for my family’s life has not changed. Life has gotten harder instead of easier. Through tears, I explained that I had had to shift my mindset to looking for small- good things to happen.
Christmas is the reminder that good things come in small and quiet ways. Prophets of the Old Testament were sent with the message that good things were going to happen. The Jewish people waited 700 years in anticipation for the BIG- good things to happen but instead God sent it in the form of an infant. God does that to me often too. He sends small– good things to fulfill His promises in my life. He was my peace in the hospital room. He is my provider when money is tight. He answers me when I call out to Him in my anxiety and depression. He reminds me of my belovedness and gives me space to belong.
If I am not careful, I miss the big ways that God moves in my life through small promises being fulfilled. I am still unsure if I will change my chalkboard or not. Maybe I will add some holly to it to make it more festive or start writing down my blessings in the blank spaces. What I do know is that I celebrate the small things, cling to the promises of God, and wait with hope for the “coming” of Advent.