Luke 1:29 – Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

Gratitude Day 916

In case you are wondering when Advent starts this year, it starts TOMORROW.

Yep. First day of Advent kicks off tomorrow. And while the rest of society wants to convince us that Christmas is already here, Advent reminds us that it won’t officially be here for four more weeks. Four weeks for us to wait for the Christ child, to prepare for the coming of the Savior, to make sure that our hearts and minds for the most amazing child ever to be born.

While there are lots of words that we could use to focus on this Advent, I am choosing the word WONDER. There are many things we can wonder about the Christmas story. While I have my ideas of what we wonder about, I would LOVE to hear what you WONDER about Advent and Christmas. Can you please share these with me?

My hope is that we will explore many of these wonders during the next 4+ weeks of Advent. Let me explore what you wonder about and together, we’ll be amazed and discover a deeper understanding of Advent and Christmas.

Let’s begin by simply getting curious. What parts of the Christmas story are difficult for you to understand? Challenging? Just don’t make sense? Again, please share these and we’ll dig deeper. Some questions are above my paygrade, but I will do my best to respond.

Wonder. What is it? It’s a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. I love that wonder comes out of admiration. That it is beautiful, unexpected and even unfamiliar.

This is how I pray we can approach Advent this year: with a surprise feeling where we can discover some amazing beautiful and unfamiliar parts of the Christmas story. I hope we develop a great amount of admiration for God, Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the rest of the cast of characters. Even though the story happened over 2,000 years ago, there is much for us to discover. Applications that fit for today. Opportunities to learn more about God and our relationship with God.

When Mary discovered that she was going to be the Savior’s mother, yes, she was troubled. Yes, she was scared. Did she fully understand the ramifications this could have? Maybe not initially.

Yet, this young teenaged girl also WONDERED. Why would she receive this message? Was it just for HER? A message that she never expected or wanted, and yet, here it was. What kind of message is this? Can we have this same type of wonder? Even when we are troubled, that we are curious enough to wonder?

And yet, I want YOU to be part of the conversation. Again … share your wonder ideas/questions. During the daily affirmation that I share on Facebook and Instagram, I’ll address them, along with weekly blog posts. Let’s make this a true conversation based on wonder this Advent and Christmas. I look forward to hearing from you!

For the opportunity to be amazed and filled with wonder this Advent, I am very grateful.
Blessings –
Dianne

Loving God – Help us develop a curious approach to wonder this Advent. Speak to us. Help us journey through Advent and discover more about ourselves, You and our relationship with You. Amen.

Looking for a bit of daily inspiration? Check out my daily affirmation posts on Facebook (Dianne Deaton Vielhuber and Simple Words of Faith) or on Instagram (diannedeatonvielhuber.)

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