Are you exhausted as Christmas draws nearer? Thank you for pausing to join us on this “Advent Adventure.”
At last, at sundown, we arrived at Lake Ocotal. Filthy and footsore, we found our director waiting for us on the shoreline…with bad news. There were not enough trees to hang our hammocks on this side of the lake. We still needed to hack our way through overgrowth for an additional hour and half around the lake to our campsite. The thought of doing that in the dark by flashlight, avoiding snakes, and then still needing to set up those awful hammocks left me exhausted. But the hardest part was yet to come.
The family members of our campers had flown in ahead of us, and upon our arrival, the wives ran out to greet their spouses. Children hugged their fathers. The wives had already hung the hammocks for their men. They had prepared a meal. Knowing no one was waiting to greet me undid my last bit of grit and self-control. I dissolved in tears.
Ten hours of sleep put me in a better frame of mind. The next day, Linda and I picked out our site for building a champa. We began clearing the area, built a fire and cooked our first meal. Using a combination of our last names (Lauck and Parke), we christened our new home “The Lark’s Nest.”
That very first Christmas, Joseph and Mary (nine months pregnant) arrived in Bethlehem exhausted after a 70-mile walk from Nazareth. Around them, families were reuniting, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles were celebrating, but there was no room for them to stay with relatives. Luke 2 tells us that at night, they trudged through the town looking for a place to stay. Mary already had birth pangs. Did Joseph feel anxious because he couldn’t find a place for Mary to have their child?
How different things looked the next day! Jesus was born. Angels had sung. Shepherds had worshiped.
Are you exhausted with holiday shopping, baking, guests, and preparations? My prayer for you today is that you would find rest and renewal in our Savior. And joy comes in the morning!
