Rockhills Christmas Collective // Adam Harris

I have fond memories of an advent calendar that we had growing up. My brothers and I each had one that hung at little kid eye level in the kitchen. Several days leading up to Christmas were numbered and had a small gift tied in a ribbon to it. It really didn't matter what the gift was, it built a Christmas anticipation within me. I could hardly wait for each day to come and each day made the anticipation of Christmas morning even more thrilling.

Full disclosure: One year the anticipation was too much. On an evening when my parents were out I had the brilliant idea to unwrap each of the remaining gifts, hide them under my bed, and then replace the gifts with empty gift wrapping. What could go wrong? I still don't know how my mom discovered my failproof plan.

While this may seem superficial on some level with all the gifts, looking back, it wasn't about the gifts at all. It was about the anticaption of a long awaited arrival of Christmas. ADVENT.

My prayer for each of you is that during this Christmas season your hearts may be filled with childlike wonder and great anticipation of the presence of Christ. Good news, if you are overly anxious for him, you can seek Him right now... no need to hide anything.

(If you would like to share some Christmas cheer, memories, encouragement, devotion, recipes, etc... with the Rockhills community, please email your entry to advent@rockhills.com)