Advent Day 1

Waiting has been on my mind a lot since I first read Kris Camealy's new Advent book, Come, Lord Jesus, back in September. In fact, I have been immersed in Advent on and off for the past three months, as I have participated in Kris' pre-launch group and prepared my journal in advance for blog posts this month. Three months of immersion in Advent and the topic of waiting has been a good thing -  a good companion as I wrestle with some areas in my life that I have been praying for God to breakthrough. Kris' book has helped me have a mindset shift enabling me to view in new ways how God uses waiting in our lives to shape and form us. Perhaps this is part of Advent's purpose each year.

"Oh, that you would rend the Heavens and come down..." Isaiah 64:1

"God has been working from the beginning, from the very first exile, on the hearts of His people. Tenderly, sometimes fiercely, God puts His finger into the hole left in the hearts of man, not to injure but to heal. But His healing hurts. We shrink back, turn around and like the ostrich, plunge our shame-filled heads into the quicksand of life. We live desert seasons, unwilling or unable to face the repentance God calls us to. We imagine that God is hiding from us, but it's we who have turned our hearts away and hidden our faces. It's we who have crossed our arms in defiance. When at last we awaken to our sin, when we see the ways it has manipulated our hearts, the cry comes from our lips - come, Lord Jesus. In our awakening, we see that God has been doing "things we did not look for" all along (Isaiah 64:3). He has always been acting "for those who wait for Him" (Isaiah 64:4)."        ~Kris Camealy, p. 7-8.

"Since ancient times no one has heard,

no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who acts on behalf of those

who wait for him."

Isaiah 64:4

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church Toledo.

In the Waiting - Guest Post for Kris Camealy

Yesterday I had the privilege to write a guest post on Kris Camealy's blog for her new book, Come, Lord Jesus. I have been a member of her pre-launch team for the past few months, reading the book in advance, and now promoting it here on my blog. Pop over to Kris' blog to read my post. But don't forget to come back here to read about my Advent plans!

For a number of years I have used art journaling to help me slow down the Christmas season and really immerse myself in the Advent experience. I will generally use an online devotion or book as my prompts and then make art in my Advent journal as a response. This year I intend to use Kris' book of daily devotions. 

I have made an art journal for Advent in one of my favorite manners: I altered an office supply item. I took a pressboard report cover and altered it's layout to make pages that open like a dutch door does.

I have had a blast making this journal and using Kris' book for my art prompts. You can follow along on my blog. I'll post daily beginning on the first day of Advent, November 27. I am also going to offer a free tutorial on how to make this type of journal. It will be available here on my blog a week or so before Advent begins. PLUS, I have enough materials left to offer a few limited edition kits for this journal. The kits will  include a pressboard report cover, the paper to cover the covers (in a choice of two patterns), the mini prongs which make the dutch doors, 14 pieces of vintage book pages for the background papers, and the instructions on how to make the book.

All of this for $12.00! As I said, the kits will be available in my Etsy shop probably in the next week or so. I currently have 9 available and may have 5 more in addition to those. The number I have available is based on the cover paper I have on hand. If you are interested in claiming a kit in advance of the release of them in my shop then send me an email at marybrack@gmail.com.

If you are interested in reading Come, Lord Jesus through Advent there is also a four-week Advent book club taking place on Christina Hubbard's website, Creative and Free, beginning November 27.  I plan to participate in the book club as well as my art journal.

So, those are my plans for Advent this year! Check out Kris Cameally's blog. If you go back over the past few weeks you can read what other guest writers have to say about the book and about waiting on God in general. Watch here for the release of both the Advent journal tutorial and the journal kits in my Etsy shop. Plus, why not take a minute and share with me in the comment section below how you slow down and experience the Advent season. What are your Advent traditions?