Celebrations Divine by Ginger

We finished the first week of Advent with some thought-provoking words; I hope you didn’t miss any of them. If you would like to receive these daily in your inbox, sign up here. If you missed details about Advent Word of the Day, this post will help.

Below are the words from this last week, along with meditations, quotes, scriptures or prayers that reached my heart when I was researching each word. I also always include a photo that I’ve taken on trips or in my daily life.

Sunday – WIND
Advent begins.
Emmanuel.
God WITH us.
“I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the WIND coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.”
“With the arrival of Advent, Christians everywhere turn their walk towards the Savior. Advent marks the beginning of the celebration of His birth and His long-foretold ministry, atonement, death, resurrection, and second coming. If Advent is an occasion when I re-turn my eyes to the Savior, then it is also an invitation to consider where my eyes—and my heart—have been in the meantime. Advent is the gentle nudge that invites me to remember that the truth most worth knowing is that Jesus Christ is the only way Home. It is also a gentle reminder that I ought to keep my eyes upon Him all year long.”

Monday – HIDDEN
“You are My child . . . I am your God—the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, the God of tenderness and care. I know all your thoughts. I hear all your words. I see all your actions. And I love you because you are beautiful, made in My own image, an expression of My most intimate love. Do not judge yourself. Do not condemn yourself. Do not reject yourself. Let My love touch the deepest, most HIDDEN corners of your heart and reveal to you your own beauty, a beauty that you have lost sight of, but that will become visible to you again in the light of My mercy.”

Tuesday – PRESENCE
“Friendship, marriage, family, religious life, and every other form of community is solitude greeting solitude, spirit speaking to spirit, and heart calling to heart. It is the grateful recognition of God’s call to share life together and the joyful offering of a hospitable space where the re-creating power of God’s Spirit can become manifest. Thus all forms of life together can become ways to reveal to each other the real PRESENCE of God in our midst.”

Wednesday – PEACE
Hail! the heav’n born Prince of PEACE!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die:
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Thursday – GRACE
“There’s a ‘time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance’. But what I want to tell you is that these times are connected. Mourning and dancing are part of the same movement of GRACE. Somehow, in the midst of your tears, a gift of life is given. Somehow, in the midst of your mourning, the first steps of the dance take place. The cries that well up from your losses belong to the song of praise. Those who cannot grieve cannot be joyful. Those who have not been sad cannot be glad. Quite often, right in the midst of your crying, your smile comes through your tears. And while you are in mourning, you already are working on the choreography of your dance. Your tears of grief have softened your spirit and opened up the possibility to say ‘thanks.’ You can claim your unique journey as God’s way to mold your heart and bring you joy.”

Friday – WATCH
Find someone today and pray this prayer over them:
The Lord bless you and WATCH over you, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look kindly on you and give you peace.
May God the Father keep you in all your days.
May God the Son shield you in all your ways.
May God the Spirit bring you healing and peace.
May God the Holy Trinity drive all darkness from you and pour upon you blessing and light. Amen.

Saturday – AWAKE
Happy Birthday to my amazing Mom, who loved her morning coffee. Have a cup for her today. I can’t wait to sit and chat with her again one day over a delicious cappucino. Call your mom today if you can.
So there’s no better quote today than the ‘Liturgy for the Ritual of Morning Coffee’. It’s a great one to learn and pray each morning:
“Meet me, O Christ, in this stillness of morning.
Move me, O Spirit, to quiet my heart.
Mend me, O Father, from yesterday’s harms.
From the discords of yesterday,
resurrect my peace.
From the discouragements of yesterday, resurrect my hope.
From the weariness of yesterday,
resurrect my strength.
From the doubts of yesterday,
resurrect my faith.
From the wounds of yesterday,
resurrect my love.
Let me enter this new day, aware of my need, and AWAKE to your grace, O Lord.”