How to Qualify in Celebrating a Yearly Family Advent

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

It's that time of year when The Cat and The Dog decided to argue right in front of their Advent tray that was seated nicely on their center table at the family room. Strong words went darting out of their mouths that were sure to pin down their opponent seating right in front of them. Their subject was on history. "You've done this to me" and "you've said this to me a long time ago," and "you are always the 'boss' and I, the 'slave'" and "I will never forget this for the rest of my life" kind of history. Just the two of them, a girl and a boy and the Word War has begun.

Their first of five candles has just been lit, burning, to observe their yearly family tradition of celebrating the Advent season. And Advent as they all know is from a Latin word which means "coming" or "arrival." Who is coming? Who is arriving? It is our Lord Jesus Christ. The celebration of the Advent is the traditional remembrance of the very first Advent, the birth of Jesus, and the anxious anticipation of His second coming. This is a joyful season of patiently waiting, watching, and reflecting upon the Scripture promises and their fulfillments in our time. In a perfect world, The Cat and The Dog would engage in a fun and lively conversation as Mama Tigress facilitate their Advent devo with the aid of an Advent guide while they sipped from their mugs of hot choco drink with marshmallows... just like what you see on Pinterest. Again, in a perfect world.

"You want us to go on?" asked Mama Tigress.

"Yes." The Cat and The Dog responded.

But this is real life situation here where it gets noisy and stinky. Family. They were taking turns reading aloud beautiful Scripture promises that were tied to this special season. And it was possible to be physically present but mentally and spiritually absent at the family Advent. Mama Tigress thought that they were all on the same page that night just like before, five years ago when they started this family tradition. The Cat was 11 and The Dog was 5.

Mama Tigress went on to read from their Advent Guide on her tablet and it read:

The King is coming. Jesus Christ has come and will come again. This is the hope of the Church whom He purchased with His blood. It is the eager expectation and desire of His people. His coming is our joy, for He is our treasure, our greatest good.

Mama Tigress, just like any other mamas in the world has many eyes, as she read from her computer device, she could see from her other eyes that The Cat was smiling, which was a little unusual, from behind the laptop computer in front of her. She has just finished reading a page that was assigned to her.

"What are you doing?" Mama Tigress turned The Cat's laptop towards her. The Cat was sneaking in and out of her Instagram feed! "And how about you?" Mama Tigress then craned her neck towards The Dog's computer device. "I was just checking the weather, Mom."

Mama Tigress started clapping her hands. "Let's give ourselves a big round of applause," while she laughed with her signature "hihihihihi" witch kind of laugh. "Thank you! Thank you, my dear children, for making our celebration of the Advent more meaningful and purposeful this year. Which reminds us all that our family best qualifies to receive God's loving forgiveness and grace. We needed The Savior in this time of year more than ever before! We are so qualified to doing this. And that is why I love the Advent because this immediately brings us to a posture of getting right with God. And getting back on track according to His purpose for our lives. Perfectly sinful parents and their amazingly sinful children. Come, let's all do this."

Mama Tigress went reading from the guide: Advent is good because people are bad. The bright light of Christmas is glorious because hearts are lost in darkness. Israel was an exemplary model. The prophet Isaiah would attest - he being the chosen voice of the Lord to proclaim judgment then mercy, despair then hope, darkness then light.

But when all hope appeared to be sunk, Isaiah lifted his head and shifted his speech:

"But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. The people

who walked in the darkness have seen a great light; those who dwell in

the land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied

the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at

the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of His

burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have

broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in the battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government

shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end..." Isaiah 9:1-7a

Isaiah prophesied of a time when the flood would subside. The Messiah will appear, and waters will dry up; Christ will come, and the darkness will flee. Darkness, in fact, is not the opposite of light; it is the absence of light. A blind man does not see the color black; he simply does not see. The radiant presence of the Savior, therefore, not only shines bright but also brings the dead to life.

(Week 1 of 5 before Christmas Day❄️ 🎄 🎁 )