I Love Christmas...

For so many reasons, Christmas is my favorite season. This is a group of our good friends at the Newport Harbor Boat parade, we had such a good time walking around Balboa Island and taking in the fun of the season. I love the parties, the lights, seeing family and friends so often, giving gifts, traditions, and cozy tree lights on at night in our house. Our church has been celebrating Advent, or the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ. In spite of the season of busyness and activity, our hearts have been stilled in studying the advent and how the people prepared for Christ's coming. The stories remind us that just like us, they were in the midst of difficulty, fear, brokenness and waiting for the impossible to happen in their life. The promise they received from God as an answer to their prayers was "God is with us, Immanuel". Mark and I have been trying to soak in this idea that God not only came to be with us in human form, but that in the waiting and the trying times God is with us...