Dec
14
Written by:
Felicia Fox
12/14/2009 4:11 PM
“I have a confession to make, and this day of all days seems like the perfect time to make it. I’m a present-shaker. Any other present shakers out there? It’s OK, the first step to healing is admitting you have a problem. As a child, each December I would wait for the floor under the tree to begin filling with presents, and then when no one was around, I would dive in. When I had found one of mine, I groped it like a finicky shopper massages a cantaloupe. I’d feel for corners, I’d listen for rattling parts, I’d judge their weight in my hands. I’d search for any odd sounds and shapes with the intensive scrutiny of a crime scene investigator. Books and puzzles were no-brainers, but I got so good that I could tell the shuffle-shuffle-slide of a sweater from the shifting swish of a shirt.
Who can blame us present-shakers? What kid isn’t brimming with excitement and anticipation at this time of year? I can remember sitting on my living room floor in spring, flipping through the pages of the J.C. Penney catalog, circling all the toys I hoped to get at Christmas. Almost a year’s worth of waiting culminated at this time of year. Can you blame a kid for wanting to get a little head start on the joy?
Of course, now that I’m an adult, I look forward to this time of year because it means experiencing a different kind of joy: the joy of Christ’s birth, which brings with it hope and love and the promise of new life. I realize now that Christ is greater than any gift I could find in the toy section of the Penney’s catalog. But I still shake my presents.”
The reading above was taken from the sermon, “Magnifying the Lord” by Kory Wilcoxson. It perfectly sums up what the season of Advent is about. Advent is a time of anticipation. We prepare our hearts to remember the first coming of Christ while we look forward to his second coming. We celebrate hope, peace, joy, love, and grace. All of which are gifts from God. May your advent season be filled with all these gifts.