Advent: Week 3

I’ve always thought it’s interesting how the candles used in the Advent wreath burn.

Since only one candle is lit every week, each candle is at a different length.

It seems uneven or unbalanced at first glance, but I realized this week, it is actually a perfect representation of this season.

For me, Advent is always about highs and lows.

Anticipation and preparation are both exciting and frustrating. They give hope and shake faith at the same time.

At the beginning of each week in Advent, I have asked God to give me a clear task to focus on, so that I can continue to prepare myself for the coming of Christmas and the New Year.

This week it was discernment.

This is not the first time I have prayed for discernment, or focused on what it means, but I found that it was especially important as I navigated the tasks on my plate this past week.

The three weeks between Thanksgiving break and Christmas break are stressful as it is, but add in testing, door decorating competitions, dress-up days, reward events, and some reindeer games, and it makes for one wild ride.

I knew I had to just get through the week – one baby step at a time.

This past week, I coached 8th graders through break-ups, new relationships, how to deal with stress, and taught them about how everyone is processing the holidays differently.

My homeroom learned a tough lesson about how even hard work and creativity don’t always cut it in this world. I told them how they had given me an amazing gift for Christmas in my Home Alone door and it didn’t matter that they hadn’t won some contest.

The most rewarding things in life usually don’t come with awards.

A mantra I will have to continually remind myself of as I face disappointments in my own life (including this one).

I was also asked by a former student to walk with her and her parents at her 8th grade basketball night, which was such a tremendous blessing (and I cried like a baby in my car when she reached out). It was an interesting dynamic though as her team was playing my current school that night, so I was cheering for both teams simultaneously. I had a student ask me how I could do that, but at the end of the day – my kids are my kids and I can show up for both teams. This is a concept I hope they will understand as they grow up.

Then, even today, my patience was put to the ultimate test as I witnessed another person’s discernment leave the building and catch a flight to Tahiti.

I’ve seen videos on social media of road rage incidents, but I have never been the victim of one myself.

At about 4:00 this afternoon, I exited the interstate after driving home from a doctor’s appointment. The people on the off ramp with me were all over the place and no one had a signal for the direction they were actually turning. I hesitated a few seconds before I turned out onto the road to ensure I didn’t get hit, when the person behind me honked. As soon as I did pull out, they whipped around me, started edging into my lane, so I had to go into the shoulder. As soon as I was half on the shoulder, they got in front of me and slammed on their brakes. This continued for about 30 seconds till I finally yelled (with reverence of course) at Jesus to intervene. Immediately, the man sped off.

Ultimately, I prayed for my own discernment this week, but really, I need to pray for everyone else’s too.

Anyone who would claim we aren’t living in chaos is in denial.

People no longer treat people like human beings.

Respect and courtesy are rare commodities.

Many disagreements are evolving into heinous acts of violence.

Young people are killing each other simply because of the way they look, or who’s dating who, or because they bumped into them in the hallway.

Self-control and emotional regulation are not even buzzwords anymore – this upcoming generation simply does not acknowledge the concept of their existence.

I’ve had conversations with people outside of education that seem to think I’m exaggerating about this, but the evidence is becoming more apparent every day.

The discernment is off, or extinct.

We are at risk each and every day, with every interaction, of coming into contact with someone who lacks discernment about fundamental truths, especially as Christians.

But that’s kind of the whole point.

We were never promised a perfect world. Jesus was born into this imperfect one, as one of us, to save it from itself.

All we can do while we are here is help everyone around us do the best that they can to find their discernment, so they too can help others.

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

—C.H. Spurgeon

❤