Adventian Blog

Well, here it is, the advent of something new. As I think on how ill-prepared I am to dive into the world of blogging, I reflect as well on how ill-prepared I feel for Christmas. I looked forward to this Advent with joyful hope as a time to prepare myself in a meaningful way for Christmas. Being recently married in the fall, I was also looking forward to having some semblance of everything settling down again by the start of Advent. It's funny how our scripts end up with red editorial ink all over them. Even before the fall foliage had peaked and gone, with stores filled with Christmas goods battling Thanksgiving preparations, I realized that it was unrealistic of me to expect normalcy to ever return. Marriage is that different. Yes, it only helped complicate things, moving into a new home with my wife, one made far too small by the generosity of our family and friends, and far too cramped from the compiled stuff of two persons now become one in marriage. But marriage is that different. And it is hard work. As I have thought of often, and ought to probably think on more, marriage is constantly kicking the *%$# out of pride. And this is a good thing, because hopefully I'm becoming a better man; a more loving, more patient, and less self-centered one. And hopefully by doing this, I'm helping my wife to become a better woman. Like a friend told me yesterday, "You are the channel of grace for your wife, and she for you. If you aren't striving after selflessness and goodness and humility, you are selling your wife short." And you know what, he was right, and I needed to hear it. So maybe this Advent hasn't been what I expected in terms of preparation for the coming of God Who is love, but it has been a time of preparation. As my wife and I enter more fully into the vows we made to each other and to God, we continue to be prepared for a deeper Advent of Love. We are the better for it. Maybe this Advent hasn't been so bad after all...and maybe it's not supposed to stop at Advent. peace...