The Passions of Christ’s Advent, a devotional.

One year ago, at Christmastime, a dear friend of mine gave me a devotional for the season of advent. It was beautiful and inspiring: a series of printed cards that I displayed on a garland in my home, along with a paragraph of thoughts for each day.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago. I was talking with my husband about how I need to write more – if only for my own benefit, and as a small creative endeavor outside of the “creative” job of parenting 3boys day in and day out.

He remembered how inspired I’d been by the advent devotional of 2013 and challenged me to write my own.

Then, he gave me a deadline. (For those of you worried that my husband is a slave-driver, I can assure you that he could not be further from that!)

And then, I took him up on his challenge.

And now, he’s making me share it with you.

As I sat down to reflect on and write about this cold, dark, warm, lighted season we call Advent, I was moved by all of the raw, deep emotion in the texts describing Jesus’ birth. And so, each day of this 12-days of Christmas zooms in on one…

passion //pa-shen//: strong, barely controllable, intense emotion, compelling enthusiasm or desire – for better, for worse, or both.

I hope that each passion will make the story feel more real, more human, and more relevant. My prayer is that each of us would see ourselves more clearly, feel both affirmed and challenged by the passions we find here, and, above all else, be drawn more devotedly to love that babe in the manger.

 

Warmly, Jocie.

 

I’ve made the devotional available to you as a free pdf download or as a series of twelve printed cards (8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″) you may purchase. You’ll find that the cards are numbered, but they may be experienced in any order one chooses. Therefore, proceed methodically from 1 to 12, or simply choose the card that describes your day – or the card that describes what you most need for the day. Begin early in December, reading one card every other day or so, or wait to start on December 14, meditating over one card every day for the true 12 days of Christmas.

Subscribe below or in the sidebar to receive the free pdf download emailed straight to your inbox on Black Friday, November 28. And don’t forget to share with your friends! After all, it’s free. 🙂