Advent – this time that marks of the coming of God into this world through the incarnation of his Son – revives our hope.

Can we not trust that the One who wrote and produced the greatest story ever told will send us the direction and help we need to follow the plans God has for our lives? May you find comfort today in knowing our God is big enough to make a sure path for you. May the One who directed the details of the Advent story continue to tell the good news through us who seek to follow and obey.

Could you imagine greeting everyone you see with Paul’s beautiful salutation to the Romans?

But with God all things are possible! There has to be enough! This child, this fluttering of wondrous life will come whether there is money or not. Because life comes.

O, Ahaz! Scion of the house of David. You’re like the part of me that loves the forms of faith, but shies from the substance of it. You want to be taken care of, but cannot bring yourself to trust what you cannot see.

This week’s theme is to “Tell the Good News.” Scriptures throughout this week will focus our attention to the coming Immanuel. Like family anticipating a new life, announcing the coming Prince of Peace is an important first step. And then we begin to prepare.

In the wilderness—a place that carries us away from our comfort zones and from material—we find answers. We find the radical kingdom that Jesus desires to see on earth—one of making ourselves less and God greater.

In this season of pandemonium and perpetual to-do lists, let us change the way we look at time.

Over the past number of weeks I have planted many fruit trees, nut trees and berry bushes in some additional property that we have acquired. I know my role is the gardener who cares for the health of this piece of God’s earth. I plant with delight, hopefulness and anticipation.

To me, the journey of life is reflected in Isaiah 35: 1-10. What came to my mind while exploring this text was the mention of “wilderness” and how my experiences in the Rocky Mountains could relate. Climbing a mountain is an internal struggle as well as a physical one.