O Come, O Come Emmanuel

It's still ADVENT TIME!

Compliments to KO

O Come, O Come Emmanuel. So, some of you may be thinking: what is up with Ashley's obsession with Advent and especially with O Come, O Come Emmanuel? To you I would say--that's a fair question. First and foremost, I love love love advent! It's the most awesome time of the year for me, and when I feel closest to God (I'm sure it helps that the term "God with us" is thrown around all of the time during this season). As for the hymn, it's by far my favorite--although, I must admit that I am slightly disappointed that the Presbyterian Hymnal only includes three of eight verses. I am convinced this hymn it will never ever ever get old, and the words are very deep and meaningful! Read parts of Isaiah or Psalm 74 and then sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel--you'll get some goosebumps. =) ...well at least I do. 

Wait. You know, I'm starting to get pretty good at this waiting stuff. I get the vibe that many people do not particularly enjoy waiting, but I am usually not too antsy or impatient about things. I am one of those "savor-the-journey" kind of people, and not a "get-to-the-destination" person. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the latter. Quite on the contrary, I would argue that I am the weird one. This is probably another reason I love advent. If, however, you cannot relate to me... you may be able to relate to many Psalmist who proclaim, "How long, O Lord..." So, crack open those Bibles right to the middle and check out what some of the psalmists have to say about waiting!

Candlelight Christmas Concert. You know what else I love? My church! Uh huh, that's right--best church in the world if you ask me! =) This is why I was oober excited about today! I went to Sunday school, Worship, and then.... to the Candlelight Christmas Concert where there was SINGING and MUSIC and HYMNS and SINGING and O COME, O COME EMMANUEL and AWESOMENESS and ADVENT EVERYWHERE and DECORATIONS and PEOPLE and FELLOWSHIP and COOKIES! Oh what a wonderful day! And my brother even joined me for the concert! I am so grateful for how ridiculously blessed I am! I hope and pray that I am blessed to be a blessing unto others!

CPE. And finally, as if this amazing second Sunday of advent could not get any better, I got an acceptance email from a Clinical Pastoral Education center in North Dakota! Whooo! I'm gonna see what God has to say about this before I dive in headfirst, and I ask, if you're feeling up to it, that you pray for it too! =)

Well, that is certainly enough rambling for one night! I hope all of your advents are going well! All the best and God bless!