By Guideposts

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
—John 1:14 (NASB)

I stared at my December calendar filled with commitments. There was no room to breathe. Parties. Shopping. Bills. Baking. I struggled with a sense of impending stress and looming anxiety. What had happened to the joyful anticipation of Christmas?

When I was a young girl, my family had used a paper Advent calendar—a winter scene in blue, covered in white glitter. Mom had purchased it at the department store for less than a dollar.

Each morning, my three siblings and I would race downstairs to open a calendar window while we warmed up next to the heat register and ate Cream of Wheat. Then we’d cram our feet into snow boots and race to the bus. I’m sure Mom and Dad had hoped it would be a time for memories and religious instruction, but more often than not, we argued over whose turn it was to open the window—and we did it in the age-old language of children seeking to be noticed in a life-is-not-fair-to-me world.

Rather than the typical stable scene, woodland animals and birds had waited behind each window of that advent calendar. On the twenty-fourth day, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus completed the landscape as “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

The people in Christ’s time had needed a residing Jesus. My siblings and I needed Him too. I still need Him.

I need Jesus at home with me in the planning of parties. Jesus hanging out as I shop. Jesus with me as I pay bills. Jesus lingering in the kitchen during Christmas baking. Jesus breathing peace into all of the details of an overloaded calendar. Jesus, God with us. With me.

Jesus, I am opening wide the window. Come be at home with me.
—Lynne Hartke

Digging Deeper: Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:23

Taken from Daily Guideposts 2022: A Spirit-Lifting Devotional by the editors of Guideposts. Click here to learn more about this book.

This 365-day devotional from the Editors of Guideposts will help you grow in your faith every day of the year.

Daily Guideposts 2022 centers on the theme “The Lord Is Near,” based on Psalm 145:18, and is filled with brand-new devotions from 48 writers. Each day you’ll enjoy a Scripture verse, a true first-person story told in an informal, conversational style, which shares the ways God speaks to us in the ordinary events of life, and a brief prayer to help focus you to apply the day’s message. For those who wish for more, “Digging Deeper” provides additional Bible references that relate to the day’s reading.

Enjoy favorite writers like Debbie Macomber, Edward Grinnan, Patricia Lorenz, Julia Attaway, Karen Valentin, Sabra Ciancanelli, Mark Collins, and Rick Hamlin.

In just five minutes a day, Daily Guideposts 2022 helps you find the spiritual richness in your own life and welcomes you into a remarkable family of over one million people brought together by a desire to grow every day of the year. Sample This Devotional

Guideposts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring the world to believe that anything is possible with hope, faith, and prayer.

This is accomplished through many outreach programs that allow Guideposts to connect with people and help sustain them in times of spiritual need.

Guideposts’ work is a calling to make humanity more hopeful and caring. They seek to build and support communities that lift up individuals at their most vulnerable moments and sustain them during their daily struggles. Learn more at Guideposts.org.