My Prayer this Advent Season

This season gets a little crazy.

I only have 2.5 kids (the new baby is due in early April!). Huds and Harry have different schools. That’s 2 Christmas parties, 2 mornings drop offs and pick ups (I am so thankful for my wife being a full time stay at home mom! She works hard taking care of us boys and is always on the run!).

All of us with kids have Christmas parties for work, church and friends. We all have family traditions and gatherings to attend (we are in the Downtown Seal Beach Parade this year!) and that’s not including our regular work and ministry meetings, volunteer opportunities, evening meetings (work, church and other), and then there’s the actual time it takes to get kids ready for anything, into a car at the same time (making sure everyone has shoes on, again) and driving to and from the myriad of activities that makes up our schedules for December.

My prayer for my family and yours is this: I pray that this Advent Season is different.

My prayer is that we make space to actually want and expect God to show up in our daily schedule. My prayer is that we pause and actually look into the eyes of our children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters and parents. My prayer is that we remember that Jesus came to give life, real abundant life. Jesus isn’t found on a coffee cup. God isn’t in the rushing wind or the storm of chaotic schedules and events. Often, God shows up in small-unexpected ways, like a little baby in a manger. Here’s to waiting in expectation for God to show up and that we find Jesus (or more accurately, He finds us) this Advent Season.

Josh Higgins
Director of Student Ministries