In Awe of His Coming

At 6:45 am, I hear a squawk. She’s awake. I go into her room and she’s rubbing her eyes. When she sees me, her first words are, “Do Advent?”

Kyla’s vocabulary and comprehension exploded in this second year of life, so I decided she might enjoy some Advent readings this December. To my surprise, the first thing that popped up in a Google search was a blog from a Western couple living in Indonesia who created a daily Advent reading for their kids, using all the parts of their Nativity scene! What a small world! So on December 1, we began sharing their readings in our home too.

Each morning, I ask, “Kyla, do you remember what “advent” means?” 

“It means Jesus is coming!” she exclaims gleefully. “His birthday is Christmas. Make a cake?” Kyla is always looking for an opportunity to eat dessert. So I suspect there might be some sugary motivation in the anticipation of Christmas for her. But then again… I suppose most of us have a tendency to be distracted by something other than Jesus at this time of year, don’t we? 

So each year I try to look for a fresh perspective in the Christmas story… something to redirect me to the awe of His coming. This year, Kyla pointed out three things to me.

The Place…

In addition to the Advent readings, we’ve also been trying to teach Kyla some Christmas songs. The first song I sang to her before her nap on December 1 was “Away in the Manger.” Sometimes I think she’s not really paying attention to all the nap rituals. But as we cuddled up and rocked, I only got two lines into that song and she sat straight up and said with a woeful expression, “Jesus has no crib?!? Hmmm… just like Kyla!”

About three months ago, we transitioned Kyla from her crib to a twin bed. Apparently this was a bigger milestone for her than I had realized. The next day at nap time when I asked her what we should pray for she said, “So Jesus can have a crib.”

I hadn’t ever spent too much time considering the manger in the Christmas story, but really, whether it was a manger or a mat on the floor or a comfy mattress, what Jesus exchanged in coming here was so much greater that I doubt it mattered too much where He slept. He Himself said in Matthew 8:20, “… the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” That’s not why He came. He had a mission much greater than temporary comfort. 

I am in awe of His coming.

The Presents…

Every time Kyla hears the word “presents,” she immediately puts up three fingers and points to them one at a time saying, “Gold! Frankincense! Myrrh!” (I couldn’t believe she could recall those words after hearing them only once.) And when I asked her what we should give as a Christmas present to her best friend, these were the things she listed. Not that we would have done it anyway, but I’m not sure that the average kid would be too excited about unwrapping those items. 

In the same way, I was thinking about this with the little gift baskets we gave to our neighbors this year. As I wrote the Christmas cards to tuck in amongst the snacks, I wondered how excited they would be about the message… the real Present in the mix. From my interactions with them this year, I know that each of them is on a journey. Some are closer to the Kingdom than others. I pray that our presence would be the fragrance of Jesus to them and that they might one day joyfully receive the Great Present of Jesus. (2 Cor 2:15-16)

I am in awe of His coming.

The Purpose… 

Kyla hasn’t necessarily remembered or paid full attention to all of the Advent readings, but one in particular really stuck with her. “Why did Jesus come to us?” I ask. “To smoosh the head of the naughty snake.”

Indeed, His mission was great. He came to save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray, as the old song says. And just as I’m not sure Kyla really gets the meaning behind smooshing the snake just yet, I’m not sure that any of us can fully grasp the depth of this sacrifice that brought us comfort and joy. May we take time to revel in it this year.

I am in awe of His coming.

~ by jen4him on December 11, 2022.