Comings and Going

Each morning, deep in a soft chair, soaked in warm lamp glow, curled in an afghan until the heater chases the night chill from the room, I’ve been trekking through Pastor Paul Turner’s advent devotional.

I feel anticipation building inside of me as I’m reminded …

… Jesus came!  Every God-ward person living before that event longed to see Him come.  And He did.

… Jesus is coming!  So much myth is swirling about the upcoming 21^st of this month.   But, He will come.  Maybe that very day, or sooner, or later.  He will come.

… Jesus is in me!  Perhaps that’s the biggest advent wonder for me personally.   He penetrated the dark and distance in my heart and threw on the floodlights of his amazing presence …right in my soul.  He’s here!

I think of families like mine—in far flung places—still in the dark about all three comings!  And my admiration spikes for friends like Matt, Kristen, Emma, Anna and Isaiah Fraser.

The anticipation they feel right now must be so stretching!

Jesus’ three comings are at the heart of their decision to leave the comforts of Canada and go to people that are still in the dark.

As the Fraser’s anticipate their departure for southern Ukraine on January 4, are they feeling some of what Jesus felt just before He stepped out of heaven?   Did His heart race and sink at once at the prospect ahead of Him?  Will they feel a hint of the humbling He gladly took on as they learn to mouth a whole new language and toddle into that unfamiliar culture?  What risks will they face?

God tells me to honor friends like the Fraser’s (Philippians 2:25-30), because they risk everything to do the work of Christ that not all of us can do.

Their going is all about Jesus’ comings!