o happy day – christmas 2001
As the holiday season rolls in, I find myself longing to set Christmas apart as special and unique. Christmas is so much more than a thanksgiving celebration or a mere remembrance, more than gifts and trees and lights. Christmas marks the axis of human history, forever separating our calendar, testaments old become new, law gives way to grace, and hope replaces despair: Christmas marks the birth of God in human form, the incarnation.
The God who created matter took shape within it, as an artist might become a brush stroke on a painting or a playwright a character within her own play. God wrote a story, only using real characters and the pages of real history. The Word became flesh.
To aid us in celebrating Christ’s coming Lynette and I have been drawing on some of the traditions of the Church during the season of Advent. Especially Advent wreathes and calendars, and a medieval prayer book dating back to the 13th century. As you may know, the overarching theme of Advent is anticipation for the arrival of Christ.
Anticipation is particularly significant this year in the wake of September’s events, and the changes wrought about since the 11th. The glory in the theme of anticipation of Christ’s arrival is not limited to the angelical celebration of his birth in Bethlehem; the glory is also in the sure hope of his soon return. For me the Christmas season is being transformed into a time of forward looking, to the great day when peace will reign on the earth, and evil will be dealt with, and I will be home for the first time. When I can crawl up into my Father’s lap, finding comfort and joy, and knowing love without fear. I will find lasting rest. Oh happy day!
Our wondrous joy this year has been the eagerly anticipated addition of a baby to our family. Pascal Brandon was born on June 15th, and we brought him home just three days later. Lord willing, in early January Pascal will become legally free, which means we will be able to begin adoption procedures. We may not be as old as Abraham and Sarah, but after eleven years of marriage even we were wondering . . . .
Shortly after Pascal arrived on the scene I transitioned out of the “dot com” position I’d been at for the last three years in order to spend time with my son, to devote more energy to serving our church community, and to work on some writing projects. I have had the gift of time to listen and learn over the past few months and I am excited about the direction that God is leading both our church and me personally.
Lynette continues to teach third grade in a public school that’s just a short walk from our home. She is blessed to have a small class this year, only 20 kids, and she is enjoying the freedom that comes with seven years of teaching experience. God has been gracious in letting our schedules be flexible enough so that we both have time to be with our new little person. Pascal is starting to turn his flailing swimming motions into crawling motions, and his favorite things are trees in the wind, bright lights, and the arrival of junk mail that he can slobber on. There have been times when the paperwork and administration of foster care and adoption have almost been overwhelming, but our persistence has been rewarded. You should see my wife… she is such a great mom, she just lights up a room when she holds our little guy – I love her.
We are appreciating our house more with each passing day. Gone is our commute, and the home’s location is perfect for ministry purposes. Our remodel is nearly complete. We’re hoping to rent out a studio apartment that we’ve created in the basement now that my brother is no longer living with us. With lots of help from family, I’ve been plumbing, insulating, wiring, putting in cabinets, landscaping… you get the idea. If you were to look in our window on any given day you would see us rolling on the floor with Pascal, playing pool on the table Lynette grew up with, talking with Quest people, and working on and straightening up our well-loved and well-used home. We have lots of room for you to come and visit, and we’d love to show you around and introduce to some more of God’s favorite people whom we have the pleasure of doing life with.
We all know that it’s impossible to sum up a year in a page. From Lynette, Pascal & I, we truly wish for you a sense of anticipation as you celebrate the coming and return of Jesus Christ. We pray that your life will be marked more by a sense of wonder and awe than by endurance; more by trust than by safety; more by dependence on God than by self-confidence; and more by reckless love than by guarded affections. May you take a step of faith in keeping with the greatness of our God, and find Him faithful–because He is.
Peace, dwight
