Advent is a season of waiting. We are hopeful and expectant as we look towards the coming of Christ. But this season isn’t just a time to sit idly by. It’s an opportunity to prepare ourselves so that we can receive Christ in His coming. Henri Nouwen suggests that the best way to actively wait is by believing what we await is already on its way. And it is. The Kingdom of God is coming.

So how do we prepare? Read more…

In the Christmas story the role that Joseph plays speaks to my heart. He finds out that Mary is pregnant and he is stunned and heartbroken. He has every right to end their engagement, which in Joseph’s time, was equal to getting divorced. Read more…

I moved with my family to Calcutta (Kolkata), India last year. “Vibrant” does not begin to describe it. The city is a sensory overload — sights, sounds and smells that I could not have imagined before experiencing them. Called the “City of Joy,” it is that. Read more…

Aldi has become my new favorite market to shop for groceries. I love to walk the aisles and check out the unusual items often matched to the season. Read more…

One early morning when our son was 3, he came to the side of our bed and stood by my head until I cracked one eye and told him it was still dark outside so he needed to go back to bed. “No,” he replied, “I looked out the window and saw the first glimmer of dawn.” Read more…

I loved participating in our annual church Christmas pageant. Being the youngest of four children, I watched it many years before I participated. Read more…

“Mom, do you promise to be with me forever?”

Knowing that I won’t be around “forever,” I try to reassure Grace, our 7-year-old, that while her dad and I will always do our very best to be there for her, her real security should rest in the only everlasting One; in Immanuel. Read more…

A Facebook notification pops up on my screen and I can’t help but sigh when I see that it’s an invite to “A Very Merry Christmas Party.” I absent-mindedly pull out my Christmas to-do list. Another Christmas party means another dish to prepare and maybe a present or two. It means another event to attend in the midst of work and school. Read more…

To put it lightly, the holidays are stressful.

I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. A light dusting of snowflakes covered the roads as we drove to my grandmother Elisabetta’s home. We celebrated Christmas Eve in a rich, traditional Italian fashion, warmed by the loving company of family and a chorus of candles anticipating the arrival of God’s Morning Star. Read more…