Category: Advent Series

Are you enjoying our “Advent Adventure”? Why not invite a friend to join us in the jungles of Mexico?

Swimming class was held down at the river, complicated by flood season and steep muddy riverbanks. One day, after class, my contact lens fell out. The whole group of girls helped me search for it but to no avail. The soft wet mud glistened and made it almost impossible to find a single tiny plastic lens. I was in tears.

Leah, one of the staff, shared with us about how she was learning to pray really believing that God would answer her request. So, together we prayed and agreed to believe that God could and would return the lens safely. As we left the area, Leah asked the men’s swim class to keep an eye out for the lens.

Still, it was hard for me to walk back to my cabin that day. I searched my clothes to see if by any chance the lens was still on me. I believed, but I was afraid. Suddenly, one of the men came running up carrying something in his fist. A miracle! He had glimpsed the lens just before one of the other men almost stepped on it! God wanted me to learn to rely on him for big things like protecting my life but also for even the smallest things like a contact lens.

When Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt with their infant son, did they wonder how would they pay for all their travel expenses? Joseph would need housing for his family. He needed to purchase tools to earn a living. Mary would have to buy food at the market. They had to ask God to meet each need.

Before they ever left Bethlehem, the Lord had summoned kings from 800 miles away to bring gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus. Joseph and Mary could use that treasury to fund all they needed to care for Jesus.

Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever (big or small) you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” What requests have you placed on God’s altar?

Welcome back for another episode in this “Advent Adventure.”

During the first week of our jungle training camp, I was assigned to make breakfast for the entire crew of over fifty people. Little did I imagine how one of God’s angels would have to protect me that morning!

At 4:00 a.m. I trudged to the main kitchen. In the dark, I fumbled around the unfamiliar landscape until I found the Coleman lantern. Matches were on the counter nearby. I opened the valve and casually lit the wick. Only later in the shop class did the staff teach us that lighting the lamp without first pumping up the air pressure could result in an explosion. Despite my ignorance, God’s angel somehow kept that lantern from erupting in fire and sending shattered glass into my eyes.

That was not my only mishap that morning. When I looked at the recipe for oatmeal, I substituted tablespoons for teaspoons as I measured out the salt. (Did I mention being nearsighted and bleary-eyed?) Not even the camp mules would eat the cereal that day!

Which angel do you think the Father assigned to care for Jesus? Mary and Joseph raised him in Egypt where poisonous asps were a dangerous threat. Do you think Jesus never hit his thumb with a hammer when he learned carpentry in Joseph’s shop? Did a scorpion ever dare to hide in Jesus’ sandal? Even Satan quoted Psalm 91:11,12: “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands, so you won’t hurt your foot on a stone.”

How many times has the Lord protected your life? Did you ever wonder why the Lord spared you or what purpose God had for you to fulfill?

Can you believe Christmas will soon be here? Thank you for taking time from your seasonal activities to join me here for another thought about this “Advent Adventure.”

Once I arrived in our jungle training camp, communication with family and friends became much more complicated. Fifty years ago, there was no Wi-Fi or email. A mule had to carry our letters out to a small airstrip, then the pilot ferried it over the mountains to the nearest town. Just when those planes would fly was unpredictable. They were at the mercy of the weather. A storm cloud could delay our mail for days or even a full week. Sometimes letters got lost in transit.

I wrote home regularly, and my mother saved all my letters. In November, I wrote, “It’s Sunday afternoon, and I have time to fit in a note here before hiking off to visit a nearby Tzeltal village. The plane came and left yesterday so I don’t know when this letter will get out. Thanks for all your letters and updated addresses for my mailing list. Alas! The addresses can’t be corrected for a while as I had to pre-address two batches of envelopes before we left Mexico City.”

When he left heaven and came to earth, did Jesus miss being able to communicate each day with his Father? Were some of his prayers lost or mislaid? Was there ever a delay in delivery? Not a single prayer went astray. Each day, Jesus “wrote” home. Mark 1:35 tells us, “Before daybreak, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” And Luke 22:39 speaks of his daily habit of seeking time alone with God.

Why not set aside your holiday preparation and take an extra five minutes today to sit quietly in God’s presence? We too can know that our prayers fly to the Lord without delay.

At last, our “Advent Adventure” has taken us into Jungle Camp! Here’s a glimpse of my new home as described in a letter home.

“Like a small Tzeltal village, camp is a series of mud-walled, dirt-floored, and thatch-roofed buildings. The largest one is the kitchen and dining room where we meet. Smaller huts are toilets (pit-type) and showers (bucket-type). The place where I sleep houses eight girls, with bunk beds, table, shelves and chair.”

At camp, I started off with several advantages: I already knew how to cook over a wood stove. I was also familiar with riding horses, even though my camp skirt got tangled in my mule’s saddle. I was a strong swimmer — some of the campers didn’t know how to swim at all.

But I had to other lessons to learn. I discovered I had no skills at soldering. My tin “candleholder” was a drippy mess of molten lead. Other campers were far better than I was at carpentry. I kept trying to even the legs of my wooden stool until it ended up becoming a boot scraper!

When Jesus came to earth, he had no advantages over other small boys in the village of Nazareth. His house was not grander than theirs. His education was the same as theirs. They all ate a similar diet of fish and bread. He wasn’t even better looking. Isaiah 53:2 tells us, “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.”

Do you ever feel like others have greater advantages than you? The Lord asks you to use whatever talents he gave you, not to compare yourself with others.

Are you ready for take-off? Today’s “Advent Adventure” lifts us across the mountains and into Tzeltal country.

Let me quote from my letter home that day: “I woke early, ready to fly out at a moment’s notice. Because we were among the last campers to arrive, we were also last on the flight priority list, but when one of the other campers asked for an afternoon slot and I happened to be standing nearby, I offered to take her place. In fifteen minutes, I ran back to the hotel, checked out, saw some rubber boots in a shop across the street, tried them on, paid, and then ran back to the plane’s hangar!

“Then, I waited an hour. I used the extra time to catch my breath. It also gave me time to shove my regular shoes into my duffle bag and tie on my new boots. At last, the 6-seater plane soared into the sky. I was glad for the boots! Upon arrival, I found it had rained for hours the previous night, and mud was everywhere!”

Can you imagine Jesus’ first experience with dirt and mud? Think of the odors in a stable. I’m certain none of that was found on Heaven’s streets of gold! Later, he experienced the filth of a sinful world. He saw the pride and selfishness and greed of people around him. These were the people he came to save?! And he had no rubber boots or hazmat suit to protect him from this kind of contamination!

As you get ready for another day, take a moment and consider what behavior in your life saddens Jesus. Is there mud on your conscience? What would you like to confess? Why not take a moment to ask God to forgive you? Then read Isaiah 1:18.