Advent For Leaders and Parents
After a couple of decades in vocational ministry, it’s incredible just how stressful the Christmas season can be. Depending on the size of your church or ministry, Christmas preparation may have started as early as January.
The pressure to produce can be intense… decorate the building on a minimal budget, develop your Advent sermon series and a “take home devotional”, plan the perfect Christmas Eve service with treats, drinks, carols and a short message - all on top of the normal Sunday responsibilities.
With so many things on our to-do list, it’s easy for us to cruise through the Advent in a flurry of activity that we never stop long enough to receive it for ourselves.
But this experience isn’t limited to just ministry leaders. Think of just how many mothers and fathers dutifully cook, clean, shop, and wrap only to collapse on December 26th with a messy house, an empty fridge, and kids asking what’s for dinner. Like Sunday prep, dinner just keeps coming around and it can be tiring to prepare for (pancakes… we’re having pancakes for dinner).
Though tiring, for many of us it is an absolute joy to give ourselves to this work. We invest so much into this season for the people we love, however, I would guess that once or twice you’ve found yourself wishing to be on the receiving end. When years turn into decades of this rhythm, it’s easy to feel a bit worn out. Subtly, feelings of “let’s just get it over with” can begin to creep in. Some far-off part of us longs for the chance to get to experience it for ourselves… to really enter in.
If that’s you this year, the invitation this advent season is to pause, if even just for a moment, and to remember that Advent is for you. Jesus’ incarnation and moving into the neighborhood is for you, not just those you are called to serve.
Advent, like Lent and Easter, are intended to be yearly rhythms that capture our hearts and remind us of powerful truths, but if we are pouring all of our time and energy into serving, the opportunity to “enter in” feels like a privilege we don’t have time for.
If that’s you, I want to invite you to consider a subtle shift as you continue through this busy season: May you receive what is given to you before rushing to pass it along.
You are working hard to prepare, craft, and develop services and experiences God will use to profoundly impact the lives of those you are called to serve. But as you do so, may you move from this idea of being a conduit that passively passes something on to being more like a chef that samples the meal as it’s being prepared. May you find brief moments to pause and reflect, getting to savor and enjoy the flavors as the meal (or service) comes together. And of course, to remember we have a seat at the table as well.
That’s it. Just a subtle shift… may I receive what’s given to me before rushing to pass it along to others.
If you’ve found that you’ve functioned as a conduit for so long that you struggle to experience the love and closeness of God for yourself, can I make a suggestion?
Consider spending an hour once a month with a Spiritual Director.
A Spiritual Director is someone who holds space FOR YOU. Their whole goal is to listen with you for the voice of the Holy Spirit at work in your life, helping you to notice God’s invitation to you personally amid the busyness.
If you sense that Spiritual Direction could be a gift to you during this season, I would love to meet with you to share more. You can find a time to meet with me (free) by clicking here.
As you serve this Advent season, may the Spirit anoint you powerfully for the work before you. You are called, but most importantly, you are loved. May you receive the love of Christ today for yourself!
Thank you for the ways you serve the bride of Christ this Christmas season.
