For K&L
And all those who love them.
This advent finds me with open hands
In one, is hope & faith in all I know He can do
In the other, is grief & reality
Bitter things stacked one upon the other.
This advent smells of myrrh and aloe
Precious spices for celebration & healing
Gifts worthy of a newborn King
Dignified adornments among linens at death.
This advent is torn between joy & sorrow
There is beauty & love - but also a deep ache
The orange-clove-cinnamon scents drift
Across the pain inside me.
This advent whispers life & death
It is a time for holding diverse & contradictory emotions
Sorrow mingles with the serenity of white lights
Joy echoes in a well-known carol.
This advent pulses love & melancholy
Our breath catches in a message sent
Our heart is grounded in the symbolism of the evergreen
It is a holy & hopeful, scary & sacred time.
This advent draws me to both the promise & pain of waiting
Waiting for life, waiting for a Savior
Praying for miracles & hope & fresh chances
Being silent in the wait, expectant in love.
This advent lays a heavy blanket on us
We struggle with doubts, things that don´t make sense
We wrestle, we weep, we embrace
And Emmanuel has come and sits with us.
This advent has Him close to the broken-hearted
He weeps among us & takes our burdens
There is only One who can carry this kind of advent -
The One who smells of myrrh & aloe.
Photo: Jannis Andrija Schnitzer
My name is Kelly Byer; I am Kent Byer’s wife. I have been following your blog since Jenna’s diagnosis and was one of the many who prayed for her healing and sobbed at the news of her passing. I continued to read your entries as you so graciously allowed us to feel your grief as you processed the unimaginable. Your ability to lament deeply and acknowledge Him powerfully caused me to praise Him because I could see His Spirit at work in you. I continue to check your blog for new entries and to reread previous ones because they point me to God. I hope you are still writing because those who are as gifted and anointed at writing as you are bless others when you put your thoughts and reflections on paper. And, as always, I am so sorry for your loss of Jenna.
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