It seems like only yesterday I was sitting down with my family for Thanksgiving dinner and here we are starting off another season of Advent!
It's a tradition in my family that the day after Thanksgiving we begin to prepare our house for Christmas. Rooms are cleaned, decorations are pulled out and Christmas movie marathons begin! One of my all time favorite Christmas movies is the movie Elf. It's always on my families’ must watch list during December, and as many of my friends know I find ways to quote the movie in conversation all year long.
One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Buddy stays the night at Gimbels and decorates the store in anticipation of Santa’s arrival. It's amazing to me how Buddy meticulously decorates every inch of the store and how each piece of the preparation is intentional and special. Following the preparations, I always enjoy seeing Buddy exclaim that he “knows” Santa amidst the crowds of people in the store. His excitement is truly infectious.
That particular scene in the movie got me thinking about the season of Advent we are embarking on in just a few short days. Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. A time of anticipation. The word Advent literally means “coming”. The question I find myself asking right now is how am I preparing my heart to receive the Lord this Christmas? If this truly is a season of preparation, am I like Buddy in Gimbels, meticulously preparing every inch of who I am to receive the Lord into my heart in a deeper way this Christmas? Am I excited about Christ’s arrival? If there is one thing I have learned from my many times of watching Buddy prepare that store for Santa, it is that the preparations of my heart this Advent should be intentional. Because the truth is that the King of the Universe wants to make a manger out of my heart for himself this Christmas. Do I have room to let him in?
This Advent my plan is to spend more time actively and intentionally preparing my heart for Christ’s arrival, to dive into the scriptures of each Sunday of Advent, taking time to be still amidst the holiday craziness and just be with the Lord in prayer and to allow the excitement and anticipation of Christ’s arrival build inside me in the coming days and weeks ahead.
Jesus is coming! My hope is that I will be able to exclaim in Buddy style excitement at the end of my preparations this Advent that “I know Him”. Will you join me in this season of preparation?