As we observed Advent this evening, I was led to Genesis 3:15: the protoevangelium. This is the first Scriptural reference to the promise of the Messiah. From the Fall, God had planned to send Jesus to be our Savior. The protoevangelium is the first of mannnnnny prophecies pointing to Jesus, and these prophecies gave people hope for the day the Messiah would come.
As I told my children about these promises and the hope they gave, I was reminded that this hope is not merely wishful thinking or a lovely dream. The hope that God gave people for the Messiah’s coming could more fully be expressed as expectancy or anticipation. God’s Word is true. His promises are sure.
While Jesus walked the earth, He promised to return, and in the final chapter of Revelation, the last of the words in red say, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 22:20)
In the same way men and women waited hopefully for His coming, we now watch and wait and hope for His return. Though our perception of the word “quickly” may differ from Jesus’, we can be sure, we can trust that as He fulfilled promises and came 2,000 years ago, He is indeed coming again.
Since getting married, we’ve lived in homes from the 40s, 80s, and a flipped home that was built in the 70s, but was practically new. I decided my idea home age was one what was older than my grandparents (charming and full of both history and character) or younger than I am (somewhere between vintage and new). We found a house that fit in the latter category, and when we bought it just over a year ago, I knew there were several things I wanted to change.
The first major things that absolutely had to change were the light fixtures. Not only did the previous owners have some really strange lightbulbs (think color changing in the kitchen and spinning projection type bulbs in front of the garage), our first few nights here had me feeling like I was going blind because the bulbs were so dim! I believe most of the fixtures were original to the house, but some of them were just way too small for the rooms they were in. Changing our main floor fixtures has made a huge impact.
Next on my list of changes to make were our kitchen countertops and backsplash. They were also original to the house. Our backsplash consisted of large, diagonal beige tiles, and our countertops were a very textured brown laminate with a wood front. It may have been the kitchen of my mom’s dreams 20 years ago, and she thought I was crazy for wanting to change it because it was still beautiful to her. The texture in the countertop made it less than idea for baking, and it had to be scrubbed, rather than just wiped clean. Between the color and the texture, I never felt like it was fully clean, even after being scrubbed down. The backsplash and countertops needed updating.
Unfortunately…my list got reordered when the deck balusters started falling out, and we realized the railing was rotten. As our friend was starting to replace the railing, he noticed that the other boards were also rotting and…the whole deck needed replacing. So we replaced the deck. And it’s beautiful, but it’s not kitchen countertops.
Finally, the day came when my husband took me to look at countertops! We found a few options and narrowed it down to the one. Then came the scouring of hardware stores to find a tile in a complimentary color. With new countertops, we decided to also take out the Y2K kitchen desk and replace it with a custom cabinet. Thankfully the company that built our cabinets is still in business, and we were able to have them come out to match the stain.
Our backsplash was stubborn, and it didn’t want to be pulled off of the walls. It had to be cut out and the walls re-sheet-rocked. That happened last week.
Three days ago our faucet got disconnected, and our countertops went in the next day!!!
Today the backsplash installation began! As I rock my youngest daughter to sleep, I’m excited and thankful, yet weary. It’s been three days without a kitchen sink, and it’s challenging. The backsplash is looking beautiful, but the grout isn’t in yet, so I’m not yet able to fully see my vision brought to life.
Our countertops and backsplash are in already, but they’re not yet completed. I feel guilty for my weariness and impatience when I already have my beautiful updates in process.
As I sit in this tension, I’m reminded of the tension that exists in our salvation. We are already cleansed and justified, but we are not yet made perfect and complete. Our salvation has been purchased already, but we are on earth and are not yet enjoying the glory of eternity with Christ.
Someday (hopefully tomorrow!!) my kitchen faucet will be installed and my backsplash will be grouted. And someday, I will be both with and like Jesus. While I am thankful for what Jesus has already accomplished, I anxiously await the completion when every tear will be wiped away, sin will be no more, and I will glory in the presence of my Savior for eternity.
It’s easy to become wearied by the wait. It’s easy to be weighed down by the things we see and face here on earth. But we can be encouraged because someday is coming.
Last week I found myself in a regrettably familiar place, in a struggle between hope and a self-protecting negativity. We listed our house for sale three weeks ago. If you’ve ever sold a house, you know it’s not the most fun process. Between having to keep the house in showing-ready condition with four young kids, having to leave the house without a plan of where to go, and the uncertainty of how long it will take to sell, I’ve definitely experienced moments of exhaustion and frustration.
We had been told there was a lady who loved our house and was going to bring her husband back through the next weekend when he was back in town. Monday came, and they had not returned. I told my husband I didn’t think they were coming, and he accused me of being uncharacteristically negative. I explained that I didn’t want to hope for something I didn’t think would happen because I didn’t want to get disappointed. And…then I realized, I was back to using negativity to protect myself from being disappointed, which only served to make me disappointed in myself for reverting back to something I thought I had outgrown.
Before meeting my husband (9 years ago yesterday!), I had multiple people attempt to set me up with eligible young men. Each time, I ended up disappointed. I decided it would be easier, safer to assume I would end up single because hoping I would get married and hoping relationships or potential relationships would result in marriage left me disappointed.
After getting married, my husband and I had months of praying and waiting for our first child and over a year of waiting and praying for our third. I found myself worn out by the cycle of hope and disappointment each month. I stopped wanting to hope. I started assuming I would only see one line on the tests.
I wrestled with my lack of hope because I knew hope was important. Faith, hope, and love are three things that remain (1 Cor 13:13). Faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). Clearly hope isn’t something I can just wall my heart off from.
And yet, when faced with uncertainty in our house sale, I found myself choosing not to hope that the expected couple would be back through or buy our house. I believed doing so would save future me from being disappointed. I felt like a failure. How had I gotten through extended singleness and a total of over a year and a half of infertility without learning not to fight hope?
Finally I remembered the lesson I had learned: where I put my hope matters.
Putting my hope in a potential relationship resulted in disappointment. Putting my hope in positive pregnancy tests resulted in disappointment. Putting my hope in someone coming to buy my house would result in disappointment.
Instead of putting my hope in people, solutions, or outcomes, my hope must be placed in the One who never fails, is never late, is always faithful, and knows everything.
Putting my hope in God turns my eyes away from things and away from what and when I think would be best. In placing my hope in God, I wait expectantly for what God will accomplish and when He will accomplish it. While people and situations can let me down, I trust God’s heart. I know He has the best plans and that He is growing through the wait. I know His timing is perfect, even if it doesn’t often line up with my ideal timing. I know He sees the big picture.
What are you hoping for? What have you placed your hope in? How would things change in your heart and mind if you put your hope in God and expectantly waited for Him to do what only He can do?
My son looked out our living room window on Thanksgiving, after the sun had set. Our neighbors have started putting up Christmas lights, and when he saw them, he said, “I think it looks like Christmastime!”
The next day, he insisted we needed to wear Christmas hats while we decorated, and both of my kids wore Christmas hats as we went to one store on Black Friday. We all donned Christmas hats as we went to see a light display that evening. I think my toddler may be starting a new tradition, and I love it.
There is something so comforting, grounding, and nostalgic about traditions, especially for Christmas. My mom’s family has playing Bingo for prizes on Christmas Eve as a tradition that began generations ago and has continued on through the years. The prizes range from random snack foods to fun gadgets to bottled coffees to the always wished for gift cards. We all envy the one person who seems to win every game, despite the Bingo cards changing each round, and we feel sorry for the one person who inevitably loses more than anyone else.
When I was around 6 or 7, my mom started another Christmas Eve tradition: gingerbread house building. My houses were not very structurally sound for the first few years, and my siblings decided I was a garage builder. It’s only recently that I’ve escaped from their mockery and have proven my gingerbread house building abilities.
Another Christmas tradition my mom started was observing Advent. Starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving and continuing to Christmas Eve, my parents and all six of us kids would gather around the dining room table with a Christmas cookie or some other treat, maybe some hot chocolate, and sometimes a game or craft, and we’d take turns lighting the candle(s) and reading that week’s Bible passages. This is one tradition that I’ve already continued with my toddlers, and this year, I’d like to share it with you!
The first Sunday of Advent focuses on hope.
Right after the first man and woman sinned against God, He began to reveal His plan to redeem the people who had just broken His law. In Genesis 3:15, God spoke of one of Eve’s offspring who would strike the head of the Serpent. He said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”” For centuries all of creation lived in expectant hope for that day.
Two thousand years ago, the One who was promised to strike the head of the Serpent was born, and now we live in hope for His return and eternity spent with Him. One day He will wipe away every tear, He, the Prince of Peace will reign over us, and we will be with Him forever.
In a year of unknowns, change, anxiety, isolation, division, loss, and so much more, I am so thankful for the hope we have in Jesus. Unlike the ten months (and counting) I have hoped for a positive pregnancy test only to be disappointed, hoping in Jesus will not leave us disappoint. One day, we will not be plagued with sickness, infertility, cancer, or death. One day the Body of Christ will be with our Bridegroom, and we will be of one heart and mind. My heart yearns for that day.
Knowing that what we are now facing pales in comparison to the joy that day will bring makes my trials and sorrows seem more bearable. Knowing I have hope brings light to the dark days because they are temporary.
How does this hope change your present? How does this hope change you?
Imperfect Pearl 