Advent repost

I posted the following post last year, tonight at church as we were talking about Advent it popped back into my head. I feel this year more than year's past I have been overwhelmed with Christmas prep and trying to make sure it is perfect for the girls and quickly lose sight of what it is really all about. This post reminds me why we are anticipating Christmas, it isn't about matching p.j.s or the perfect present or beautifully decorated tree, or the right cookies but about Jesus. My prayer in the coming weeks is that we can keep that the center of the focus so our girls learn the true meaning of Christmas! And can I just say---has it really been 5 years!?! 
 
4 years ago Chuck and I were anticipating the birth of our 1st child soon after Christmas--Chuck wrote this Advent devotional for church. As we look forward to our first Christmas of parents of 2 children I think it continues to be applicable, especially as I watch Emily's excitement over the approaching holiday! May we all look forward to Christmas with her childlike faith!!

I Think I Get It Now

You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.

I think I finally get it now.
For hundreds of years the Jews looked forward to the day their messiah would come and restore their kingdom. They wrote about their desire for him to come. They prayed for his coming deliverance. The eagerly expected him. I think I finally understand their sense of anticipation. As Sarah and I wait for our first child to be born I am beginning to understand the anticipation felt by the entire Jewish nation (on a much smaller scale, of course). We have spent the last six months preparing ourselves, and our home, for our child's arrival. We have prayed for our child every day. We have put together baby things, cleaned, and
prayed some more. Sarah has eaten and I have taken that as a challenge to eat more than her. I think I'm winning. The level of excitement about Christmas is a little higher this year because I know what it's like to anticipate the birth of a child. I would like to remind everyone about how exciting this Advent season really is. There is a reason the whole world is not excited about the birth of our child. He (or she) is not the savior of the world! We are anticipating the one who has saved us from our sins and redeemed us from the curse of the fall!
I pray that you would enter this Advent season with a sense of excitement and eager anticipation.