Come Lord Jesus, Come! Our Advent Hope #AdventReflections

Recently, I’ve been reminded anew how fragile and precious life is and how tragic this world can be. I’m struggling to process the sad reality of 

• young men who see no hope and end it all—most recently a friend of my oldest;
• their parents, left trying to make sense of the senseless;
• moms and dads I love faced with devastating diagnoses for their children;
• displaced and abandoned children, battling to simply survive in war-torn countries … many of them not reaching double digits in age before they lose that fight.

Such sorrows and tragedies beg for explanations; yet, the answers are few and unsatisfactory. And I’m tempted to give into feelings of anger and sadness, fearfulness and helplessness. 

What do we do with it all, the ugliness, the evil, the pain? I guess we have a couple choices: We can curl up and forget that life still goes on, or we can pick up the pieces and somehow keep going.

Once I curled up and tried to forget, but God showed me a better way, a way to live in the mess of this world. A way to go on when it seems impossible. A way to even find joy.

God offers a way to go on when it seems impossible, a way to even find joy in the ugliness of life. #Jesusiscoming Click To Tweet

Our Advent Hope

It’s because Jesus lives!

And He is returning again to wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4). 

We will again see our loved ones who die in the faith. Someday pain will not exist, parents will not be left to say a final good-bye, children will not wonder if they’ll see tomorrow. Someday we will all be well and whole and want for nothing. 

That is our hope. That is our Advent hope: Christ coming to bring us everlasting peace and joy … to bring us life, beautiful and complete.

Our Advent hope is Christ coming to bring us everlasting peace and joy … to bring us life, beautiful and complete. Someday we will all be well and whole and want for nothing. What a beautiful truth! Click To Tweet

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Death will no longer exist;
grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer,
because the previous things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Come Lord Jesus, Come! 

Reflections: Where do you turn when the senseless strikes, when life turns ugly and painful? What is your hope in Advent? 

It’s been more than 5 years of counting and I’ve well passed 5,000 gifts in Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare! What a blessing! Here are numbers #5566–5586. Read my entire list by clicking here.

• *Road tripping with Danny to his appointment; *Family in an out-of-state city who helped us find a good auto repair shop; *Meeting up with niece Betsy and adorable little Vincent for lunch *Flannel sheets
• *Watching an eagle launch from a branch above the lake; *A day that didn’t include getting into a vehicle; *Getting another full night’s sleeping
• *Options to explore for Rachel’s future; *More time with Danny on a road trip to another appt; *Clear roads
• *Able to help get Rach off to school before I had to leave this morning; *Joining with professionals to help facilitate family-educator partnerships; *A little time to Christmas shop on my way home
• *Home; *Being challenged beyond myself (no I don’t really like it, but I know it’s growing me, so it must be a gift); *Promise of Revelation 21:4 (God will wipe away every tear)
• *Spending afternoon with Zach; *Amazing Christmas Festival at @WheatonCollege; *People to care for Rach, so we can attend
• *Surprised by the beauty of an overnight snowfall; *Returning safely home after attempting to make it to church and then having a sweet time of home worship; *Celebrating the life of my husband on his birthday

By His grace ≈

Julie