Advent - Week 1, Day 1: The Message of Hope

What2Say2Day? Today is the first day of Advent. The dictionary definition of Advent as "a coming into place, view, or being". The next four weeks are when Christians celebrate the coming of Jesus the Christ-child and the season which leads to Christmas day when we celebrate the actual arrival of our Christ. There are four weeks in the Advent season, each week with its own theme; hope, peace, joy and love. The first day of Advent is also the first day of the year in the Christian calendar (Happy New Year!). So, what does this all mean? Today is the day we can start over in our spiritual lives and renew that which is in us to bring those things that Advent represents to others. In the next four weeks I hope to show that Christ is already here, that we are already living in his kingdom and that we are in a battle against the things that take us away from all that is good in this world. How do I plan to do this? The same way I'm asking you to; by sharing hope, peace, joy and love with everyone around us. This week we'll focus on hope which I define as the knowledge that things will get better. I recently discovered a story about Reece Goo. Reece is a 12 year old who is recovering from a form of brain cancer. He credits the Make-A-Wish Foundation with bringing him the hope he needed to get through the most difficult part of his rehabilitation. Because his soul was so deeply touched by the Make-A-Wish Foundation he has decided to do his part to spread hope to by encouraging others to write letters to Santa that tell of why they believe in the magic of Christmas. For each letter written Macy's will donate one dollar up to a grand total of one million dollars. Reece is hoping the people from Hawaii will write 5000 letters. This is just one example of what someone can do to spread hope. If it helps here is an easy way to remember what hope is: Healing Others with Prayer and Encouragement. I look forward to this week and the opportunities to share the Christ that is alive in me.