“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
— John 1:14 (NIV)God is faithful, and the King is alive. He is returning soon.
Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. (Maranatha.)
Advent — The Holy Waiting Room of the Soul
My paternal grandmother lived more than four hundred miles away, making her visits rare but delightful. The four young Jette boys would anxiously count down the days until Grandma Jette arrived. Our excitement grew with each sunrise.
Because I was so young when she died, I don’t remember much about her—but I’ve never forgotten the feeling of anticipation and the joy her presence brought. Pure delight.
Just as those young Jette lads anticipated their grandmother’s arrival, we now find ourselves in another season of expectation. Last Sunday marked the first of four Sundays—and the twenty-four days—leading up to Christmas, when the world pauses to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning coming or arrival. It reminds us that the story of Jesus isn’t finished. The same God who entered the world once in humility will return in majesty.
This is the seventieth time my life and Advent have shared time and space. I don’t know how many Christmases remain for me on this side of eternity, but one of the dangers of things we know well is captured in the old proverb: familiarity breeds contempt.
That phrase traces back to the Roman writer Publilius Syrus in the first century B.C., who warned that “familiaritas parit contemptum”—overfamiliarity dulls our reverence. That’s the danger with Advent and Christmas: we can lose the weight of their meaning, and their power to move us.
Overcoming that kind of familiarity is one of the reasons I created Running the Play. Apprenticing ourselves to Jesus keeps our faith fresh. We intentionally adopt his way of thinking, acting, and being—training with him daily to become the kind of people who naturally do what he would do if he were living our lives.
Apprentices of Jesus who train with him daily are always running a play that takes ground from the enemy and moves the kingdom forward. There’s nothing more meaningful, satisfying, or eternally fruitful.
And it consistently yields childlike joy and wonder in me that never ceases to amaze.
Just as our childhood wonder grew each day closer to Grandma Jette’s visit, for Jesus’ apprentices, Advent is the holy waiting room of the soul—where expectancy turns ordinary days into sacred countdowns.
Run the play.
Defeat familiarity.
Live in sacred expectancy.
🪶 Finding Our Place in the Story
- How might a renewed sense of anticipation reshape the way you experience this Advent season?
- Where have you grown overly familiar with the story of Jesus—hearing it without feeling its wonder?
- What “play” is Jesus inviting you to run during this season of holy expectancy?
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