Advent Reflections

During this season of Advent, I truly want to slow down and enjoy the month of December. I have been purposefully trying to slow the pace of my life over the past year or two, but this month, I am down-shifting even more. I truly want to be present every minute of every day, present to God and to those around me. With the frantic nature of parties and shopping typically associated with Christmastime, this "present-ness" is too easily lost.

So here is my goal: to spend a few minutes near the end of each day blogging my "present-ness" during the ordinary moments of the day. My prayer is that this will help me stay more focused on God, my family and friends, and the sacred nature of life in anticipation and hope of the coming Messiah.

This month began on a wet Saturday. I arrived home late last night from a business trip to LA and was looking forward to a day with very few plans. After sleeping in (ahhh), Kim and I had breakfast, just the two of us, on the patio, enjoying the cool air and the smell of rain. I spent a good portion of the day working on an Advent video for aldea, and then spent the afternoon with my daughter. After a difficult appointment at 4:00, we headed for the local Alltel store to buy her a new phone. She was so excited about this new, lime-green, LG phone that I thought she would explode. Part birthday, part Christmas present, the phone was a gift from us to her, and nothing else could have been better. Over dinner at Panda Express, the two of us talked about life and the future. It was wonderful, and I didn't want to be anywhere else.

I can't help but think that times like these are when our kids learn the most from us. It's when they learn how to talk about difficult subjects, when to ask difficult questions, and when to accept answers and situations they would rather not have to accept. It was a tough afternoon for both of us, but I finished dinner feeling very hopeful and thankful.