Advent Journal

How about getting into Advent?  This is a time of waiting and preparation.  I picked up an Advent Journaling booklet this year called Prepare the Way of the Lord.  You might also call it- Journaling to Bethlehem.

Today’s suggested scripture reading is this…

2 Peter 1:1

1Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: ²May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ³His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature.

The question is- What gift do you have to contribute to the world?

Growing up I never thought I had much in the way of gifts.  My older brother was the smart one and my little sister was the pretty one.  I was just the middle child.

I wonder if we can really be aware of our own gifts or if others need to point them out for us.  When I started working and getting performance reviews I began to hear people tell me what I do well.  Shouldn’t have surprised me that what they thought I did well was usually something I really enjoyed doing.  But those same evaluations would point out that my greatest strengths were also my greatest weaknesses.

I have the gift of commitment and determination.  Carried too far that becomes stubborn and inflexible.  I have the gift of being able to see things pretty clearly and speak clearly.  When I am not careful that can border on tactless or offensive.  You get the picture.

So Peter says we are given our gifts to help us participate in the divine nature, in other words, to do good, to give life, to be creative, to share love.  Advent is a good time to think about the gifts we have been given and how we use them.  Will you join me in journaling to Bethlehem?