December 1st & 2nd Travel Days

We’ve made a list and checked it numerous times, so we should be good to go. 

Car is loaded and we are off! 

At the airport 

Security was very long and extremely slow but the one TSA guy was a happy man.

Our plane

Blanket, pillow, slippers, water and earphones provided. 

My gluten free meals were not anything to write home about, however Juniper thoroughly enjoyed her Korean dishes.

And all mixed up

I watched the Dietrich Bonhoeffer movie. I knew his story as I’ve read some of his writings but the movie made it very real. 

We’ve flown almost halfway around the world and it feels like it. That was a long flight with many children on this flight, often wailing, not quite harmonious, duets. The little boy behind us was sick, coughing and sneezing. Praying we don’t catch whatever he has. 

Arrived in Seoul, Korea where we have right at an hour before we board our flight to Hong Kong. We were supposed to have a 2 1/2 hour layover here but due to high winds, it took us an hour longer on the already 15+ hour flight. 

About to board the next leg of our journey, only 4+ hours this time. On another note:

Is Christmas sneaking up on you again this year? I've found that to be the case too often in my life. I may have all the meals prepared, the gifts wrapped, the Christmas cards sent out, but I've realized that my heart was completely unprepared to truly take in the Gift. I wanted to do that differently this year.

In my mind, it's never too early to prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas, so I began this Advent study in early November. Since Juniper and I are leaving for Asia on December 1st and won't arrive until very late on December 2nd, I've decided to start the blog off with thoughts and illustrations from my Advent study that you may read on the 1st and 2nd, (if you want), as we travel from Texas to Hong Kong. I’ve titled my study/journal, Journey to Jesus. Disclaimer: I tend to get wordy as most of you know, and the mixed media artwork in my journal was not created to share. It's what came to me as I was studying the scriptures, so the fact that I'm posting it is kind of like showing you my "junk" pile. Yikes!

My Advent Journal

I've been eager for the season of Advent. It's one of my favorite times of the year. It's a reset and a season all about hoping, waiting and anticipating. I love the rhythms of worship and the hymns that fill the church and our hearts with songs that speak the truth of where our hope is found. Our hope is found in the cradle and the cross. Our hope is found in the baby lying in the animal trough and the man nailed to a cross. Our hope is found swaddled in Mary's arms and in the empty tomb.

One of my favorite Advent hymns, which speaks to my deepest desires, is Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus. I decided to journal this hymn and will share parts of that journal with you as Juniper and I travel through Asia in the coming days. 

Here's a brief history of the hymn. As always, skim through or ignore as you desire.

Charles Wesley was the brother of John Wesley, and the two men started the Methodist denomination together; John was the preacher and primary leader, while Charles is best remembered as a prolific hymn writer. In 1744, (Charles) Wesley was inspired by the scripture Haggai 2:7, along with class divisions in Great Britain, to pen this prayer: 

“Born Your people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now Your gracious kingdom bring. By Your own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone; by Your all-sufficient merit, raise us to Your glorious throne. Amen.”

I speculate that when Wesley said, “rule in all our hearts alone,” the implication was, “don’t let the forces of evil like greed and apathy to suffering rule in our hearts.”

He adapted the prayer into a hymn, anticipating both the nativity story and Christ’s second coming, publishing it in a hymnal the same year. Oddly enough, part of what catalyzed the song’s popularity was its adoption into a sermon by the famous Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. I'll share a quote from his sermon in a coming post.

Wesley understands that Israel is expecting a messiah (“Israel’s strength and consolation”), but he also knows Jesus came to save all peoples (“Hope of all the world thou art”). During the Babylonian Exile and later under Roman rule, the Hebrews needed a source of joy, hope and freedom, all of which are referenced in the first verse. The second verse goes on to explain what Jesus has, can, and/or will do as the savior of the world.

In Advent, we are reminded of the foundation of our hope, which is present in the midst of the waiting and anticipating. This season, my hope is that you find hope in our Savior, a babe born in a manger and who promised to come and redeem the world. I encourage you to listen to the hymn and sit in the waiting and anticipating of this season with hope. Come Jesus, come.

December 2nd post -

I wonder if when Wesley penned the words, "Come Thou long-expected Jesus," he knew inherently of a heart longing so deep, it keeps you awake - alert to the coming and tangible presence of the one you long for. The One we're longing for. This is the refrain of Advent - we have a sure promise of our Beloved's glorious return. Take a few minutes to read Colossians 1:15-20. And while we wait, we have His presence and power. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:8

The existence of God as past, present, and future means we don't just look ahead in our longing; it is not only forward-facing. We look back and remember our longing is birthed out of history - a sure promise that actively propels us into the present. Because indeed, this day is preparing us for the future day when Jesus shall ultimately return. His eternal existence guarantees it, here and now. Colossians 1:22-23.

My challenge this Advent: as I cry "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus," let me also savor the nearness of the One who is and has always been, Revelation 1:8. Let me allow His eternal existence to prompt my present prayers and propel my future hopes. And let me, with the purest of childlike trust, remember the faith-filled depths of this proclamation (come thou long-expected Jesus), that is my prayer. For without such longing, there is no hope. So let the chords of hope faithfully remind me that, with every borrowed breath, we join in the song of God's people through the generations as we declare - Jesus has come, and as close as He has come, we sing come again...Thou long-expected Jesus.