Merry Christmas Eve Eve!
Anyone else heading towards Christmas with unresolved stuff?
I know I am, and I have daily petitions in prayer for all the unresolved, both in my life and the lives of those I love and carry in my heart.
In the midst of all that's unfinished, I'm invited to slow things down.
I’m reminded of an online Advent retreat hosted by
I attended last year.It was a chance to step away from all the frenzied rush to wrap things up #punintended :-) An opportunity to step into a few moments of rest and encouragement. The kind of rest and encouragement that is entered into when the yoke is easy, and the burden is light. The kind of rest and encouragement that can only be entered into with our friend Jesus.
Each of us took turns sharing something we'd gleaned from our reading of Luke 1:39-45. Familiar verses for me, especially at this time of year.
The scene is set with Mary rushing to meet Elizabeth, both of them in the midst of their own yet to be resolved circumstances. Elizabeth blesses Mary with the gift of joyful encouragement at a time when Mary may have been experiencing much doubt, confusion, and loneliness.
Such a crucial time for Mary, and thankfully, Elizabeth didn't wait to have everything taken care of before offering her the gift of encouragement.
John’s leap for joy within Elizabeth leads to Elizabeth’s leap for joy with exclamations of encouragement towards Mary, which leads to Mary’s praise magnifying the Lord in the Magnificat, which leads to my joy and encouragement today, which I can then share with others.
Smack dab in the middle of all that's unresolved, Love comes down and meets us where we are.
Emmanuel. God with us. Love with us.
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!
Luke 1:45 CSB
Until next time,
which will also be next year,
Becky
a few more words
A visit from Christmas past:
A prayer filled with grit and grace, and a prayer of hope during the holidays.
A few words about the greatest gift I’ve ever been given.
book update
I had hoped to have a pre-order link for you with this note, but it turns out self-published paperbacks on Amazon don’t have that option. So you’ll just have to wait until February 14, 2023 - official Glimpses of Love launch day!
Launch team details will be hitting inboxes in January - thanks to all that responded! There’s still plenty of room, so just hit reply to this email if you’d like to be a part of the team.