{"id":727,"date":"2014-12-04T01:27:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T01:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/?p=727"},"modified":"2015-04-16T00:43:28","modified_gmt":"2015-04-16T00:43:28","slug":"727","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/727\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for Christmas and……."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Advent_abstract\"<\/a>Here we are in the season of Advent which encompasses the four\u00a0weeks leading up to the celebration of Christmas. Advent comes from the Latin “ad venire” or “to come to.” As a child in church I always heard, \u201cCome Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus\u201d to which I\u2019d think, \u201cWell, hasn\u2019t he already come? He\u2019s already been born and walked the earth otherwise we wouldn\u2019t be celebrating his birthday, right?\u201d I confess it was always a hair confusing to me.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until later that I learned that Advent is a season of preparation directing our hearts and minds to Christ\u2019s second coming at the end of time, in addition to preparing for the anniversary of the Lord\u2019s birth on Christmas.<\/p>\n

Directing our hearts and minds to Christ\u2019s second coming at the end of time\u2026hmm\u2026now that\u2019s a bigger directive than just decorating your local church in purple and making sure we have enough ushers for Christmas masses or services.\u00a0 We’re talking eternity here.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, as a wife, mom, in-law, sister, aunt, godmother and friend, it\u2019s easy for me to forget to direct my heart and mind to Christ\u2019s second coming. After all, there\u2019s a lot to do to prepare for the parties and presents! But here are some great, practical ideas from American author, teacher and pastor William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) on how we can prepare for Christ\u2019s second coming as well as for the anniversary of his birth. Every year this helps me take focus off what society and commercialism has created of Christmas and onto what I believe our Heavenly Father\u00a0Is asking me to do. Now during these weeks when I sing in the congregation, “Ready the way of the Lord!”\u00a0 taking Ward’s suggestions certainly puts my words in action.\u00a0 Join me in training ourselves to do this not only during Advent, but throughout the year as we prepare to meet Jesus one day face to\u00a0face!<\/p>\n

Fast from judging others; Feast on the Christ dwelling in them.
\nFast from emphasis on differences; Feast on the unity of life.
\nFast from apparent darkness; Feast on the reality of light.
\nFast from thoughts of illness; Feast on the healing power of God.
\nFast from words that pollute; Feast on phrases that purify.
\nFast from discontent; Feast on gratitude.
\nFast from anger; Feast on patience.
\nFast from pessimism; Feast on optimism.
\nFast from worry; Feast on divine order.
\nFast from complaining; Feast on appreciation.
\nFast from negatives; Feast on affirmatives.
\nFast from unrelenting pressures; Feast on unceasing prayer.
\nFast from hostility; Feast on non-resistance.
\nFast from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.
\nFast from self-concern; Feast on compassion for others.
\nFast from personal anxiety; Feast on eternal truth.
\nFast from discouragements; Feast on hope.
\nFast from facts that depress; Feast on verities that uplift.
\nFast from lethargy; Feast on enthusiasm.
\nFast from thoughts that weaken; Feast on promises that inspire.
\nFast from shadows of sorrow; Feast on the sunlight of serenity.
\nFast from idle gossip; Feast on purposeful silence.
\nFast from problems that overwhelm; Feast on prayer that strengthens.<\/p>\n

Praying\u00a0for each one of you this season as you prepare your hearts and minds for the Lord……<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here we are in the season of Advent which encompasses the four\u00a0weeks leading up to the celebration of Christmas. Advent comes from the Latin “ad venire” or “to come to.” As a child in church I always heard, \u201cCome Lord … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[9,10,13,12,6,14,15,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":739,"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions\/739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reneebondi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}