3rd Sunday in Advent

Where has 2005 gone? I can't believe that it's over in 3 weeks. The days blend into weeks, the weeks into months, and now 12 months into a whole year. Unbelievable!

This morning was the annual family Christmas program at our church. It was very well done, with lots of variety of music styles, scenes, etc. Children of all ages and the youth all had parts in the overall program. I took 100+ photos, some of which will eventually get posted on the web.

As I blog, I see my wife rubbing her pregnant tummy. She was at the same stage of pregnancy with our first child 4 years ago at this time. The notions of "expectancy" and "preparation" are part of our lives this particular Advent season. We're doing our best to get ready both for Christmas and for our next baby's arrival during the next few weeks. With two active young children, we're not at a stage of life where there's lots of calm and quiet time to reflect and meditate on the mysteries of life. However, our kids force us to feel certain common life experiences, such as pregnancy, birth, first steps, teething, potty training, starting school, etc. We can now smile and empathize with others going through similar life experiences.

Our current major challenge is trying to help our son who has regressed a bit recently in his adjustment to a French preschool. We spoke with a couple whose son is in our son's class yesterday and who is is also having some adjustment challenges. It was good to be able to empathize together. I think that so much of what we struggle with to learn know will eventually help us to be able to minister to others who go through similar difficulties.

This afternoon we were discussing if life would ever calm down. I don't think that our life has ever been calm during 8 years of marriage. Nor am I sure if our lives will ever get calm, nor if I would be happy if they did. I do believe that God wants us to be serene and peaceful people despite whatever is happening around us. However, I don't think that peace and calm is necessarily something to be intentionally targetted as a long-term goal, at least not in this life.