Advent is a time of preparation as we await the appearance of our Savior. This year, I’ve prepared another series of 24 devotionals but, of course, the theme is new: “God’s Love Story.”
This December, we will take a journey through the early 1940’s when my father was attending seminary in New York City. He wrote home to his parents every week, and they saved all his letters. Thus, I have a collection of Dad’s personal “advent,” from the times of anticipation to meeting his future wife, from falling in love to celebrating his wedding. Along the way we’ll see parallels with our eager anticipation of Christ’s arrival at the end of Advent.
Nov. 19, 1940…on this date, my dad was pondering his future. He wondered on paper if any of the girls he had recently met might one day become his wife. “The girl that caught my eye most of all was [RM] whom I hope I may see again – too bad she lives so far away in Washington [DC].” My father had no idea that exactly seven years later to the day, he would have not only married a different young woman but have four children. That included his daughter who would be born on…Nov. 19! (And as for a girl living far away? The woman Dad eventually married would be from even farther away, from Dublin, Ireland!)
Like Dad, when I was young, I had no idea if I would ever marry. I didn’t know what that person might be like, nor when/where our paths might cross. And some of us never marry. But each Christmas, we all have the opportunity to greet Someone who is already madly in love with us. Galatians 4:4,5 tells us, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.” God is full of surprises. After a thousand years of anticipation, in the fullness of time, our Savior was born in a humble stable in a small town called Bethlehem. Join us here tomorrow for more of the unfolding love story.
