Day 28 Christmas Eve

Ive been looking back over the Advent blogs of the past few years.  The first one was in 2012 so there have been rather a lot of posts and musings you have all faithfully trawled through!  Thank you :)  it is always really humbling for me when you guys read and enjoy and comment on and share these.
Blogger gives me statistics on where in the world these posts are read and how many people read each post.  And I have found it interesting to note that the posts which are most widely read are mostly the ones which I consider to be ' contentious ' in some way.   This year the blog entitled ' on being grumpy' has had the most reads!   A few years ago the post on depression was read by twice as many people as anything else I wrote that year. And the posts on bomb strikes and refugees have also been well received.

It strikes me that what people really appreciate is honesty and some down to earth nitty gritty sharing of the dilemmas we face as Christians.  Yes, we all like a good dose of hope and joy and jokes and funny stories.  But what people are hungry for is someone standing alongside them who says ' I dont really understand how this works'  or '  Im actually finding this quite hard'  or ' why do I feel like this?'  Sometimes its good to see someone else put into words things which you have been thinking or feeling but haven't yet managed to express.

God knows that this is what we are like.  He knows that we need someone to walk alongside us and tell us that what we are feeling is understandable.  So He gives us His word.  Full of wit and wisdom and stories of people who have been through that very thing we are facing today.  He gives us His Spirit, to comfort us when we mourn, lift us when we stumble and guide us when we are directionless and wandering.   And He gives us His Son.  The wonderful counsellor, the mighty one, the prince of peace, the light in the darkness, companion on the road. Alpha and Omega.  He didnt have to do that, but He did.  And don't we love Him for it?

It has been so good to take some time every day to ponder on what God has been saying and doing and to focus on the true meaning of Christmas again this year.   Not many of my thoughts have been original or terribly profound, but writing them down is a discipline which is good for me.   I hope reading them has been in some small way good for you too.

I wish you a blessed, peaceful, happy Christmas full of the word the Spirit and the Son of God.  And a 2017 which sees your prayers answered and your lives growing in all His goodness  xxx