Winter attunes us to watching, waiting and wondering. It soaks us in silence and begs us to listen because it’s never as silent as it might seem. 

There is magic afoot. Subtle changes to notice. More than muted colours, ice, snow and cold. More than a rest period for our weary souls. 

It’s incubation time as we join Mary and seek to incubate the holy in our hearts. We make room to be and to receive.

There are joys to be discovered and spiritual lessons to be found in the most ordinary situations we encounter as we surrender to what God is doing through it all. 

God gently beckons us to listen to His voice and listen attentively to our lives. We can learn so much when we reflect on what we’re going through and what our circumstances might be teaching us. 

Adversity isn’t simply a matter of horrible hardship and pain. It’s a way in which we deeply depend on God and experience His glory and grace. 

This Advent,  we are invited to come just as we are in order to be slowly changed and remade into who we are truly meant to become. 

We celebrate Christmas, Christ’s birth, His coming into our world to show us God’s mercy and love toward the lonely and lost.

The dreary and depressive atmosphere of winter is broken by the Light of Christ breaking through the darkness, illuminating our paths to reveal the Holy to us.

A beckoning

we are drained
parched in our minds and hearts
in need of your love
though we might fill the void
with activity and noise

it can drown out
the gentle murmurs inside
of your gentle voice
urging us to listen close
because you are not remote

you sing a song
it rides on the gold-tipped dawn
waking us to hear
to watch the sky for signs
and to see with inner eyes

my child, my child
you beckon beseechingly
please harken to me
I chase you with fervent love
I give you my life, my heart

pause your busyness
your distraction, your fears
your aching longings
I came then and I come now
returning soon upon the clouds
© joylenton 

🎄As Christmas approaches, may we listen closer to the beckoning voice of Jesus inviting us to pay attention above the world’s noise🎄

Let us seek to spend some time in stillness and silence as we mirror the quiescent landscape before us. May our holiday become Holy Days in which to rest and be receptive.

🎁 Let us open our hearts to receive an abundance of God’s presence and love. It’s a gift that keeps on giving all year round. 🎁

✨May God greatly bless you and keep you in His glorious grace and perfect peace until we meet again. ✨

With gratitude and love,

Joy xx ❤️🎄💜🕊️