Yesterday I was driving and listening to Christmas songs and thinking how much I enjoy the season of Advent and Christmas. The songs, smells, and the overall sense of joy that one can experience this season is tremendous. Then my thoughts went to two little girls we foster parented some time ago. I wondered how they were doing and whether they were experiencing joy during this season. As I thought this thought I was a bit annoyed by the intrusion into my “joy” of the season.
Selfishly, I wanted to keep singing “Holly Jolly Christmas”. I turned off the radio. I knew I needed to pray. For a brief moment I was tempted to turn the radio back on. Something made me do otherwise. I began to pray. I started praying. I did not know what or how to pray. I akwardly began by asking God to watch over those two dear ones. I do not know what their current situation is, whether they have been reunited with their mother or whether they are still in the home we took them to after we cared for them. I simply prayed that God protect them, uphold them, and guide them both. By the time I finished these brief and akward prayers, I had arrived at my destination.
I sat in my car and realized that a significant victory had occured. If left to my own devices, today I could have simply listened to the radio and sang along with the “Holly Jolly Christmas” other similar songs, and enjoyed my own Advent/Christmas time. Instead, by the grace of God, by paying attention, and because my thoughts went to these little girls and children like them, I was able to turn the radio off and focus on a more robust understanding of the reason for the season. I was able to pray on behalf of these two girls and all children who are away from their families in foster care. The reason for the season of Advent and Christmas is to celebrate proclaim the Good News that God is with us in the Babe who was born in the manger – Jesus. I plan on celebrating, embodying, and proclaiming this Good News, this Advent/Christmas season and beyond in similar, tangible ways by stepping out of my comfort zone to proclaim the Good News by act and deed like I briefly did while driving yesterday.
Have you had a similar experience? Please do share
Paul.
