The season of Thanksgiving and Christmas is so hard for so many people. Everywhere around us we see messages saying to be happy and celebratory. Yet for so many, if not all of us if we are honest, we have sadness, pain, and grief of some kind.

In the third week of Advent, we light the candle of Joy.
Now the third week in the book (While We Wait) that I am using to focus my Advent blog this year, is titled “The Wonder of Being Sought.”
The title itself made me think about the fact God is always wooing us, working in us, and pouring Grace over us even when we are unaware (Prevenient Grace).

Are you or a loved one struggling with the fact you can’t have children (“be fruitful”)?

While God has called and equipped me to be an ordained minister, I know this pain because I am one who has struggled in my faith and understanding who I am due to hurtful and painful words/beliefs fellow believers say.

I can’t have children (which I have known for over a decade), my husband and I went into the adoption process (not easy), and ultimately discerned we needed to just be a family without children.

This week we lit the candle of peace, so I was intrigued to see the second week was about finding a way home. Then one of the first questions on the first page in the chapter struck me as being so relevant: “Do you ever yearn to be completely known and at the same time completely accepted?” (35)