Understand why the fourth Advent candle, symbolizes peace, is essential. We reflect on Gabriel comforting Mary, showing how we can find peace in challenging times, just as she did. Learn how to embrace the calming power of peace during the anticipation of Christmas.

What is Advent?

Advent is simply this: An arrival that has been awaited, especially of something momentous. It is from the Latin, "adventus" which means, coming.

Advent is celebrated in the church during the 4 Sundays preceding Christmas and for those in liturgical churches - it is the beginning of the "liturgical year". (a rhythm of scripture reading and practices)

Traditionally, it is marked by a wreath that holds 5 candles. One candle is lit each of the four Sundays, the 5th on Christmas day. Each candle represents an aspect of the spiritual preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

In just a couple of weeks in homes and hospitals, in shelters and on beaches, in every setting imaginable, most Americans will gather around a table of some sort to share a meal together for Thanksgiving. It is tradition in our home and I’m sure many of yours, for everyone at the table to share something they are grateful for. Giving thanks is more than a quaint table tradition.

Next week is the anniversary of the death of my father. October 26th will mark 27 years without my dad. (My mom has been gone almost 32 years!) Wow, twenty-seven years. Just writing it causes a twinge of fresh sadness in my heart. To be honest, even though I am a grown woman with children of my own, I still need parenting! My daughters need “grand-parenting”. My mom died 9 years before my first daughter was born. Ugh.

We all have stories of loss, don’t we? 

Being busy is revered in our culture. You may have heard the saying, “If you want something to get done ask a busy person to do it.” Busy people are . . . busy.

In addition to our normal version of busy, the holidays seem to take it up several notches, and I’m not sure if you’ve looked at the calendar recently, but we are fast approaching the holidays! The nights aren’t so “silent” and our to-do and Christmas lists look like a twisted version of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Thanksgiving is less than 2 months away! And with that, we are fast approaching, “The most wonderful time of the year," or at least that is how the song goes. Sadly, for many, the holidays are not the most wonderful time of the year, they are the loneliest time of the year. Against the backdrop of tinsel and lights, parties and parades, our longing and need for connectedness is most glaring. We are lonely.

For many, this year will mark a year of transitions. Transitions such as relocation, kids graduating, new positions at work, some things ending while others are beginning, parents moving in, kids moving out, adult children moving in, aging parents transitioning to assisted living or memory care, ministry involvement ending or changing, and many more.

Some of these transitions are welcomed and wonderful while others are more challenging and painful.

Living on the West Coast of Florida has its distinct advantages. For instance, the most beautiful sunsets your eyes have ever seen occur almost nightly. In fact, people crowd the beaches nightly to watch them. There are also beautiful sunrises. I love to walk early in the morning and wait for the sun to rise and welcome the day, it is stunning.

Summer is coming to a close, school is starting, home and work calendars are beginning to reflect the busyness of this transitional season, and an eye on the holidays! For many, fall signals (not just the start of college football - Go Blue!) an accelerated busy, accelerated stress, accelerated exhaustion. For some, it is a season to transition toward remembering those who won’t be with us again or for the first time this holiday season.

One of the first times in Scripture the word “widow” is used (according to the Christian Standard Bible), the encouragement is clear, “You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.” (Exodus 22:22, CSB)

When God was birthing the nation of Israel He made it very clear that His people would be a people who would practice justice and righteousness and in large part by caring for the alien (the foreigner or outsider in the land), the orphan, and the widow.