For me, there is something healing about digging in the dirt. My parents both came from a family of farmers. Perhaps, it is part of my DNA. Sometimes I wonder what it was in creation that spoke to the man, Jesus. Taught to work with wood by Joseph, His earthly father, did He sometimes run His hands over a well-finished piece of furniture and enjoy its smoothness or pleasant lines and craftsmanship?

As David wrote in the psalms, "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him."

Too often my flesh draws me away from God. Too often I am seduced into the temptations of the world and the devil. As I walk through the wilderness with our Alaska Native brothers and sisters, I see they, too, are hungry and lost in the wilderness of their lives. Our appetites deceive us, and we try to find satisfaction, fulfillment, and salvation in things that can never save. Just like the nation of Israel, we cannot overcome or find the victory over our flesh, over the world, nor over Satan on our own.

Oh, how thankful I am that He became incarnate of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. He appeared, radically entering the family systems of the human race. And together, with all the other families, my family is awaiting His second advent.

Many times, God comes to us so well disguised we do not see His image in the sea of humanity that surrounds us. In so many ways, we are like the innkeeper. He was busy with his job, earning a livelihood. He was stressed by the hordes of people who flooded into his town. His mind was on all of the things he needed to accomplish that evening, and he missed God knocking at his door.

Dear one, when dark days overtake you, know that Jesus has come to be the True Light that shines in the world. He has come to hold you close to His heart while you are being formed according to His purpose. Rest in His care as He molds and shapes you for the work ahead and while His plan for your life continues to unfold.

To keep relationships strong, Dave and Rosemary fly into villages for dinner, create Christmas care packages, and show God's love.

The Advent message that we bring is the answer and hope for these people. The light is coming, the Christ Child, the Son of the living God. Clothed in our sinful, broken humanity and walking into the darkness of our lives, He will ascend Golgotha hill, and He will stand in the holy place.

When Jesus left the heart of the Father and became human, I wonder if it helped to know that, through His Son, some would be saved. Jesus was born to start the journey that would remove our stony hearts and give us eternal life.  Our life is now intertwined with His because He has, in His grace through faith, given us a new heart.

Most people have definite favorites when it comes to holidays. My mother’s favorite holiday was Thanksgiving. She loved to cook and have all of her kids gathered together. Unlike Christmas, with its expectations and anxieties, she could relax in her element. For others, one season bleeds seamlessly into the next with thankfulness for all of our earthly needs being met along with celebrating the joy of our salvation, Jesus our Lord.