As you can see from the photograph, our grandson, David, is happily reunited with his parents (who, by the way, are excitedly anticipating another new arrival in 2013). Naomi and Craig enjoyed a very relaxing cruise, and David had huge amounts of fun at Maul-Hall. Definitely a win-win for everyone.

There will be more on our week of twenty-four/seven grand-parenting later. But today I want to pick up the Advent theme with just a few comments.

TRAJECTORY: Experiencing the best of Christmas, I believe, is all about “initial trajectory.” That’s the entire focus of my 2008 book, In My Heart I Carry A Star: Stories for Advent.

My theory is simple: If we “get out of the gate” with our sense of direction even slightly askew, then – by the time December 25 comes around – we will have missed the true meaning of Christmas by a mile.

That’s why a little intentionality early on, via deliberate daily prayer, the commitment to worship with a local community of faith, or the decision to read a devotional guide such as In My Heart I Carry A Star, makes such a powerful and transformational difference.

ADVENTURE: At First Presbyterian Church of Brandon, we always get the first week rolling with the “Advent Adventures” Christmas craft event. It’s designed for families, but people of all ages enjoy the fun.

The evening is messy, creative, all about faith, and a hands-on experience of taking some of the central ideas of Advent and crafting them into gifts, ornaments, home-accents and more. Good stuff.

For me, the best part of the evening was walking around with my camera, and talking to pretty-much everyone in the room.

There were a lot of men at church Sunday evening who, like me, aren’t that big on crafts, but none-the-less had a great time visiting with one-another. The evening was an excellent example of why the community of faith is such a cool concept. We may not all enjoy doing the same things, but we do all value one-another, and cultivating relationships; we simply love to be together.

But the best aspect of Advent Adventures is to see families sitting at tables together, hands covered in paint and glue, laughing, sharing stories, working together, and putting the coming three weeks into the best possible context.

CONTEXT: And that context is Jesus. Not presents, but presence. One of the best names used to describe Jesus at this time of the year is Emmanuel. Emmanuel means “God with us.” And God with us is the most profound miracle, and the best reason I know to celebrate the birth of a baby two-thousand years ago.

At our church, First Presbyterian Church of Brandon, the idea of “God with us” is most eloquently expressed in the way that the wonderful people Rebekah and I love, quite literally are the presence of Christ in my life and the lives of one-another.

For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

My church family are clothed with Christ! They consciously and intentionally invite Jesus into their relationships and their celebrations.

What fun, and what a creative way to set the initial trajectory for this time of the year – DEREK