Advent has always been a really special time for me.  I have great childhood memories of growing up and having special traditions during Advent.  Advent is the time of preparation and and expectant waiting for the celebration of the nativity of Christ. Sometimes it gets kind of lost in the whole “celebration” of the holiday.   We are supposed to be preparing for Christ–not preparing for all the commercialism.  This year I have scaled back incredibly. We are going to be gone a great deal of December and I feel like it is silly to haul it all out. I have put out a few things, my teapots and Christmas mugs, a few twinkle lights on the mantle and table and a few of my nativities. It is enough.

This is the first week of Advent–the candle of Hope is lit.  It is sometimes called the “Prophecy Candle” in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ. It represents the expectation felt in anticipation of the coming Messiah and can embody many things.  According to Wikipedia hope is

Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. It is the “feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best” or the act of “look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence” or “feel[ing] that something desired may happen”. Other definitions are “to cherish a desire with anticipation”; “to desire with expectation of obtainment”; or “to expect with confidence”.  In the English language the word can be used as either a noun or a verb, although hope as a concept has a similar meaning in either use.

During this time of expectant waiting and anticipation my “hope” for each of you is that you find hope of your own this season.

May your have HOPE this Advent season.  Without HOPE we have nothing.  I would love to read what gives you hope in the comment section today.  Share your hopes with me.