Growing up Roman Catholic, I came to know Advent as its own sacred season. As a child, it was the glow of the Advent wreath that captured me—four candles, three purple and one pink, lit one by one beginning on the first Sunday of Advent. Even then, I sensed that something was shifting. The church calendar changed; the priest’s vestments changed. We stepped out of “ordinary time” into a season set apart.

As I moved into adulthood and found myself in Protestant churches, I carried the practice with me. Advent remained a time of waiting and preparing. In 1996, that sense of quiet expectation led me to publish an Advent devotional—a daily companion for the days leading up to the celebration of Christ’s arrival.

During those mid- to late-1990s, I was also discerning a possible call to ministry with the Metropolitan Community Church and even entered seminary. But life, as it often does, redirected me. Family needs and other responsibilities pulled me onto a different path. Looking back, I understand more clearly now: our plans can shift in an instant, and those changes, unexpected as they are, often carry their own purpose.

For me, “waiting” has always been about change—anticipating it, preparing for it, letting go of what was, and stepping—sometimes fearfully—into what’s new.

I know this is not the usual content here at Genealogy Bargains. Over the next 24 days, I hope to revisit and rebuild my earlier work, Stir Up Your People, O God!, a collection of images, poems, quotations, and stories reflecting on Christ’s coming. Even after 29 years, the message still resonates. I hope it will speak to you as well.

• Advent Devotional – December 1st – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 2nd – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 3rd – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 4th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 5th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 6th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 7th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 8th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 9th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 10th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 11th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 12th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 13th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 14th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 15th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 16th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 17th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 18th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 19th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 20th – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 21st – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 22nd – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 23rd – Click HERE
• Advent Devotional – December 24th – Click HERE