It’s the season of lights, the season of looking, waiting, longing, expectancy. For the first night of Advent last night we talked about this as we rolled beeswax candles and then lit them. This song by Gungor + All Sons and Daughters ringing in our hearts. Hallelujah, He is with us! Be blessed this Christmas season, dear friend. May His light shine so brilliantly within you and all around you and may you find Him nearer and better than ever.
(Beeswax candle kit found here.)
The heavy snows of last weekend lingered all week, now just piled in soggy clumps here and there. We have played so much in it, the kids bemoaning the sun and the melting each day. It’s been an ordinary sort of week around here, lots of cleaning and tasks and bills and such. The sun was so inviting this morning we were out for a bike ride and jaunt to our little neighborhood playground, but it was still so freezing out!
I found myself battling against some heavy dark of soul this week. I don’t know how much more to share of it here, but only do so because it seemed to be a theme this week between the Lord and I, and I see it reflected in the pictures above, the favorite snapshots from the week: dark + light. I found myself scribbling in my journal yesterday afternoon, “Thank you, Lord — the night can be so dark, black as coal, but the light falls so sweetly this morning.” I found myself cheered by the afternoon light pooling on our dining room table, slanting across my journal laid open, dancing across the snow. These children bring so much light, so much laughter. Life with them is good–I’m so thankful. Could it be that He wanted me to notice? Could it be that He wanted me to see? Could it be that He wanted to preach to me the light of the glory of His grace to me in these ordinary earthly realities? To let the light slant just so in beams across my path, to remind me: The light always overcomes the dark, always.
I’ve needed to preach the truth of the Gospel over my soul this week, leaning hard into what the Word says is true rather than what I feel. I found particular comfort in these words:
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit…You are a hiding place for me;
You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with shouts of deliverance…Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.”Psalm 32:1-2, 7, 10
I am blessed, not because of any other glad or fortuitous circumstance, but namely because I am one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. This is the happiest circumstance of my life, and it is permanent, unchanging, unswerving, though the enemy of my soul would often try to convince me otherwise.
Maybe you needed to remember, too. If you are in Christ Jesus, your sins are covered. All His ways to you are grace. He is your hiding place, your secret place. His steadfast love is your shield and buckler against the enemy, your promise that in the end, no matter what comes, it will be well with your soul. I hope you see His light this weekend, and His steadfast love surrounding you.
everything He gives 