christmas twenty twelve

Merry Christmas from the Hoffmans. May your day be filled with joy and hope as we remember the birth of a Savior.

"We saw his star when it rose & have come to worship him." (Matthew 2:2)

first sunday of advent

"Come thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in Thee."

from Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus by Charles Wesley

indiana christmas

How can I capture the week we had in Indiana for Christmas? Joy, peace, love. It was our first visit back since we moved. Thankfully, we managed to see most of our immediate family (except for my parents visiting my grandparents in Arizona). All seven nephews and nieces, four brothers and four sisters, parents and grandparents (an anniversary dinner for 65 years of marriage, amazing). Plus, some time with close friends in the area (one who had a beautiful baby girl). Praise God for safe traveling around northern Indiana. He even brought snow. I love Christmas, and my husband, and our families.

i done it for love

"Leo, listen carefully to me. Don't be so preoccupied with the purity of your heart. Turn and look at Jesus. Admire him. Rejoice that he is what he is -- your Brother, your Friend, your Lord and Savior. That, little brother, is what it means to be pure of heart. And once you've turned to Jesus, don't turn back and look at yourself. Don't wonder where you stand with him."

- Brennan Manning

(photo via A Beautiful Mess)

advent

"Advent, it becomes a time of self-examination. 'Put the desire of your heart in order, O human beings!' as the old song sings. God wants us to always be with us, wherever we may be -- in our sin, in our suffering and death. We are no longer alone; God is with us. We are no longer homeless; a bit of the eternal home has moved into us. Therefore, we adults can rejoice deeply within our hearts under the Christmas tree, perhaps more than children are able...

We know that God's goodness will once again draw near. We think of all of God's goodness that came our way last year and sense something of the marvelous home. Jesus comes... 'Behold I stand at the door... open wide the gates.' (Ps 24:8). One day, at the last judgement, he will separate the sheep and the goats and will say to those on his right: 'Come, you blessed. I was hungry and you fed me.' (Mt. 25:34)

To the astonished questions of when and where, he answered, "What you did to the least of these, you have done to me." (Mt 25:40) With that we are faced with the shocking reality: Jesus stands at the door and knocks, in complete reality. He asks you for help in the form of a beggar, in the form of a ruined human being in torn clothing. He confronts you in every person you meet. Christ walks on the earth as your neighbor as long as there are people. He wants on the earth as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you and makes His demands. That is the great seriousness and the great blessedness of the Advent message.

Christ stands at the door. He lives in the form of the person in our midsts. Will you keep the door locked or open it to him? Christ is still knocking.

It is not yet Christmas.

But it is also not the great final Advent, the final coming of Christ. Through all the Advents of our life that we celebrate goes the longing for the final Advent, where it says, 'Behold I make all things new.' (Rev 21:15)

Advent is a time of waiting. Our whole life, however is Advent... That is, a time of waiting for the ultimate, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. When all people are brothers and sisters. And one rejoices in the words of the angels: 'On earth, peace...'"

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

(via A Holy Experience)

monday before christmas list

Hello, friend. Isn't our Christmas tree cute? Little and happy. Logan is driving to Indiana today -- Clint and him have partnership meetings for The Well (prayers appreciated). Jealous, I'm itching to be back in the Midwest. I fly out Friday after work. I can't wait to be home for Christmas.

Here's to a wonderful week of celebrating the coming of our Savior, time with family, resting, preparing for next year, such a season of reflecting and inspiration:

Enjoying Angela Hardison's Christmas playlists (1 & 2).

A year in reading.

Choosing present over perfect (not only appropriate for Christmas, but sharing this with every engaged friend and reading every holiday).

Kmart layaway accounts.

Pitchfork's 50 top albums of 2011.

3 gifts you really need this season.

Advent calls the darkness fertile.

"God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."   

- Luke 1:26-33 (NIV)

To be favored, to begin such a season of unknown, to be a part of something beautiful, changing, and never ending.