Hi everyone,

So we are very close to Christmas and soon we’ll all be partaking in whatever we normally partake in. Be it family gatherings, church gatherings, or a mix of the two and in between.

We usually have two dinners, one one Christmas Day at my aunt’s house with my dad’s siblings and their families and it can get pretty crazy (around 70 of us gather). And the other we have on Boxing Day at my mom’s house with my siblings and their families and it’s usually a lot more subdued and calm (exactly 19 of us gather).

But for various reasons, it looked like we weren’t having any of those this year. Nothing bad or anything, it was just that plans looked like they were going to change. And that actually made my mind wander a bit, wondering what we’d do for Christmas this year.

And to be honest, I thought it’d be nice to have a relaxed Christmas at home, not caught up in hustle and bustle and just sit with my family and play a board game or something. I actually was looking forward to it a bit. It would be different, perhaps not as fun, but it would still give us a chance to enjoy each other’s company and celebrate this day together.

But then the regularly scheduled dinners snapped back into place and so I guess we’re doing that instead. Business as usual.

Here are the readings for next week:
Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
And a video of them being read:

So change can be uncomfortable. Maybe not as fun. Perhaps even scary.

I think about Joseph and what it must have been like to hear that his fiancee was pregnant with a kid that wasn’t his. All of his plans were shot. What he was looking forward to in a wife and family was now different. His expectations had unexpectedly shifted.

So he was going to do whatever anyone would have done. Leave. Start over. Try again.

But instead his plans changed again. By a dream. A vision. An angel.

This angel told Joseph to stick it out. Roll with the punches. See God even in the unexpected. And I would imagine that this was much easier said than done (and saying it would have been hard too because which one of us have actually seen an angel talk to us like that?). But in the change, the different, the unexpected, Joseph saw the purpose he was to fulfill, he saw God with them, he saw the love that joins them together in spite of all that is happening and reveals joy, peace, and hope.

And that brings us near the end of this season of Advent, where we see the hope, peace, joy, and love that comes with the Christ child. That however the time is spent, with whomever you are with, and in whatever you do, God is with you, with me, with all people of all time.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!