I love the Christmas Season!! I love the colder weather, the lights, the music, and the season of advent as we prepare for the coming of Christ. I even love the big gaudy plastic or inflatable yard decorations. I love sitting at home with a fire ablaze, the lights off except those on the tree, and James Taylor Christmas on in the background. I love wrapping gifts and watching Katie and David as they express such joy and delight as they open their presents. I love watching Linus Van Pelt explain Christmas to Charlie Brown from Luke 2:8-14. I even love seeing the heart transformation of the Grinch atop Mount Crumpit, perched with all the toys and his faithful dog Max high above Whoville.
But this year something doesn’t seem quite right. Amidst the joyful celebration there is an ever-present unrest. Although Lori and I are very early in the adoption process, I am aware that part of our family, the portion known now only to God, will not be celebrating Christmas with us. As we wrap presents and cook cookies, decorate the house and share in the joy of the season, I find myself thinking of an unknown orphanage somewhere in the Congo where a girl, or a boy, or siblings spend another Christmas.
More than any season before, I understand the expectant waiting of advent. The Israelites waited 400 years for a message from God, the church awaits the return of Christ, and we wait for the miracle God will do within our family through the process of adoption. So this year with new understanding and meaning,
Come, Lord Jesus.
Come quickly.
We await the miracle of your birth.
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