“The real wonder of Christmas is that we don’t have to make Christmas magical – when we simply enter into the wonder of what’s Scriptural. “

Dear Fam, all my dear, dear, Brave hearts….

Someone mentioned to me in passing the other day that when they grew up, they actually realized that all the magic of Christmas — is really always the work of some mother. 

And I laughed – loudly. 

As a mama, I laughed and smiled and nodded –  and deep within, I exhaled with a relief that my weary bones could actually feel: 

The Wonder of Christmas is always really the work of our Heavenly Father.

The real wonder of Christmas is that we don’t have to make Christmas magical – when we simply enter into the wonder of what’s Scriptural. 

There’s one Story that’s the truest, realest story, a story that we can enter into, that will amaze us, carry us, remake us, revive us, restore us and re-story us – especially when the world’s at war, on fire, and all the news stories feels achingly dark. 

“You are made by the Word, for the Word. And only when you press into the Word who made you, will you become fully who you were made to be.“

Yes, true, and I feel this too: There are narratives everywhere that are vying for our attention, stories that want our eyes, that want our buy in. There are headlines everywhere shaping the story, cultural pressures that are working to press whole generations into a certain mold. 

We all live and breathe and have our being in an atmosphere of stories that mean to shape us and form us. Which isn’t a surprise, really: 

This is a world made by the Word – so this is a world of stories, and everything in this world is a story that means to form our souls.  

In a world made by the Word, there is only one Story worth staying in, there is only one Story worth being formed by.  

So we light the candles this time of year and enter into the hush of Advent, because this is the truest true, in this world that cannot, in any way, have been made simply by some accident: 

You were made by the Word, for the Word. 

And only when you press into the Word who made you, will you become fully who you were made to be. 

This is why we, as a family, pray to Stay in the Story – not because it just matters now, today – but because it matters for generations, for always.

This is why we are a people who keep returning to this Story, the story of Jesus, and every spin around the sun, when the calendar year about turns – we return to Advent, to this adventure of a lifetime, this seeking Him, this looking for Him, this waiting for His coming, this coming to Him. 

“Only the Word who made you, the Word and story of God, can fully understand you and your soul, like a mother knows all the curves contours of her child’s own face. Only when a soul molded by God will be fully whole.  “

Because: Your soul will only be rightly, fully, wholly formed human – when it’s formed, informed, transformed by the heart of God, the Word of God.  

Only the Word who made you, the Word and story of God, can fully understand you and your soul, like a mother knows all the curves contours of her child’s own face.

It’s only when you let the life of Jesus shape your life, that you will experience being shaped in the most life-giving ways. 

Only when a soul molded by God will be fully whole.  

This is why we wait in the dark of Advent for His coming, why we wait and anticipate Him by turning of the pages of this Story that knows and holds and enfolds us: 

Find yourself in the Story of God – and you find your truest self. 

Enter into the Story of God  – and you enter into the heart of Christ and find your heart mending. 

When we enter fully into the story each Advent, stay in the Story in midst of all kinds of loud, chaotic, catastrophic stories  – the Word becomes the clearest window to see how this world turns, and how we can turn to find the surest way through. 

So here, on the cusp of Advent, now is the time to light hope in the dark and feel all the anticipation spark and ignite our hearts – turning the pages of the Story, burning hotter and hotter through these days of December, till we can’t contain all this hope and start a wildfire of lit love. 

This word, Advent, it’s rooted in the Latin verb “adventio,” meaning – “I am coming, I arrive.”  

This word, Advent, it’s rooted in the Latin verb “adventio,” meaning – “I am coming, I arrive.”  We only arrive – when we keep coming to Jesus.  

As the year winds down, as I deeply feel the frailty and endless faults of my humanity, as we sit in the wonder of Christmas and wonder if we will ever arrive and be all we were meant to be, we are the people who direly need the adventure of Advent, this waiting for His coming, His arrival. 

Because: We only arrive – when we keep coming to Jesus. 

Maybe now, at this point in our story, at this time of year,  the only question to ask is:

What story will we let deeply form us, which story will get to re-story us? 

How will we prepare for Christmas so we don’t miss Him, so we stay in the Story that can truly restore and re-story us, how will we intentionally prepare Him room, how will we prepare our tender hearts… to be mended…  by pressing into His heart?

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Kick off Advent with Joy & Intentionality

and with your own Night Before Advent Party… and enter into the Story of God to restore & re-story your family!

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Come let Jesus touch all the tender parts of your story
This Advent, Stay in the Story that the rest of your year, rest of our family, will need– for generations after you

3 Award-Winning, 25 Day Christmas Devotionals for the Whole Family!

The Greatest Gift (adult edition): Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (Family Edition): Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016

 The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019 (pop-up tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age) 

And Click here for All The Free ornaments & Gift Tags for The Greatest Little Christmas