First Sunday of Advent

Good morning everyone this Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. What is Advent, well I'm glad you asked. I found this definition online to try and explain it better than I ever could, so I thought I would share it with you:

"The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Jesus in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.
In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again. That acknowledgment provides a basis for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live in this time and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people. So, as the church celebrates God’s First Advent, and anticipates a future coming or Second Advent, it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to "love the Lord your God with all your heart" and to "love your neighbor as yourself."

This is a very complete and theological definition of "What is Advent". I really like this definition because it really touches every aspect of Advent, the past, the present and even the future. The only thing that it doesn't cover is "What is Advent" as it relates to me personally. And for that you will not be able to find a definition anywhere online because Advent will have a significantly different meaning to each person. What I want to do with this post is to let you know "What Advent means to me" and hopefully inspire you to take a closer look at what Advent means to you and your loved ones.

Advent to me is a time of preparation, a reality check on where I am in my spiritual journey and where I want to go in the coming year. I take time to reflect on what I have done over the last year, how far I have come compared to previous years, where I am currently and where I want to go in the next weeks, months and years. I have been celebrating Advent since I was a kid, I remember Sunday nights with my parents sitting around the Advent wreath lighting the candle(s) and sharing what happened during the week. It was a time for reflection and teaching that we shared as a family. When I stepped away from my faith as a teenager and young adult I found there was always something missing during the Christmas season, something not quite right. It wasn't until about 6 years ago when I started up the tradition at home with my own kids that I finally realized what had been missing. I bought an Advent wreath and as a family we started celebrating Advent as a family. Even in our busy lives we take time to stop and share what is going on in our lives, how God is leading us and how we are preparing for the season. My girls are 7 this year and they are starting to look forward to our Sunday night celebrations. As a family this is a great time.

Advent is also a time to refocus, to remember and to honor God, so every year I (just me because I would never impose anything on anyone) combine the celebration of Advent with the act of fasting. Now don't get all excited I'm going to go all freaky and judgemental on you. Fasting is denying something physical (whether it be food or beverage, an activity or something you value) to glorify God and go deeper with Him in the spirit. I use this time to do some "house cleaning" if you will and get rid of all the baggage and clutter in my life, by going the full 4 weeks without whatever I have chosen to fast. It's not dangerous I'm not going on a hunger strike here. Every year I choose something harder to deny and this year is no different. By fasting I remove something and replace it with God, I become fully dependant on Him to get me through it, I focus on Him instead of the item chosen to fast. This year will be my hardest ever I am choosing to fast soft drinks, junk food (including donuts, Timbits, prepackaged deserts, chips and chocolate bars) and snacking after 8pm! This is going to be very tough for me but in the end I will come out on top.

So as we get closer to the first Sunday of Advent I would encourage you to look in to doing something, whether it's spending time with your family praying and sharing, changing a habit or starting a Bible reading plan I would encourage you to do something. Take this time to prepare yourself for the holiday season and by the time you get to Christmas it won't be a let down it will truly be a celebration.

Talk at you soon

Marty

One or the Other or Both

I know it's been a while since I posted and I'm sorry but I tried something this summer, an expirement if you will, and based on the results this experiment would show me where I would go with the blog. I made the decision sometime in April or May that it would have to be either, or but it can't be both! I would either make an effort to do some face to face contact which would mean no electronic social media help (blogs, facebook twitter etc...) OR really focus on social media and cut back on my face to face contact. The decision was made, face to face was the way to go after all it was more personal, more hands on and from what I thought a better way to go. Problem was that, it was more work, more time away from family and friends but mostly it was less efficient. I couldn't reach 1/10 of the people I would have reached using the social media. I could only be in 1 place at a time. It was awesome spending time with that person but then I had others wondering what was going or why I didn't get a hold of them or hung out with them. Something else I noticed is how much I missed out by not being part of that social media, I missed class reunions, birthday parties and nights out with old friends that I haven't seen in years. Where was this happening you ask, well, invites posted on my wall, tweets sent to me directly and emails forwarded to an address that I don't check very often. But as much as I missed out I can't stop meeting people and make the same mistake by going all electronic social media. I can't live in a virtual world connecting and making friends with people I don't even know. I can't spend my days with my face in my laptop tweeting every little thing I do or could have done and let the world pass me by. So what can I do?
I think the word I'm looking for is balance! It doesn't have to be EITHER, OR it can and needs to be BOTH! I need to find a happy medium but how? That's the real question how do we get that healthy middle? How can I stay connected with people and yet still make time for family and friends. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to try different things with this blog, my Facebook account and my twitter and hopefully I'll be able to find a happy middle. Starting this Friday and going all weekend I'm doing a technology and social media black out and I'm going to write out (that's right you saw correctly write out) an action plan to try and find a way to use both face to face time and social media. Can it be done, yes it can, how well that's the real question. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have better direction, clear focus and a renewed heart.

Thanks for you patience and look forward to hearing from you.

Marty