Advent day 14...anticipation...

good evening...

i am at the sleep inn, ft pierce...

great lunch with bill hobbs at waterway cafe...

great supper with glenn davis at pf chang's...

buddha's stir-fried vegetable feast with tofu was heavenly!!!

time for a blog and then finish a sermon [along with a trip to the hotel treadmill]...

blog thought first...

jeep can tell time...

he has an uncanny ability to KNOW when it is time for me to come home from work...

but, although he can tell time...

he cannot yet understand explanations as to why i sometimes run late...

so, at the right time [when i should be home]...

he stands at the door...

staring out...

waiting...

and waiting...

and sometimes waiting longer...

but then comes that moment...

the one he has been waiting for...

i pull up, get out, activate my car alarm...

and it beeps...

HE GOES WILD!!!

his waiting has paid off...

what he has anticipated is almost reality...

his hope for my homecoming is fulfilled...almost...

as i climb up the front steps, i watch my buddy...

his whole body is doing the wave...

from nose to tail...

his little nub of a tail is moving at hundreds of miles per hour...

he is prancing around as if the floor is just too hot for him to stand on...

what a welcome...

eager anticipation...

unbridled excitement...

living hope...

advent is about this kind of moment!!!

anticipating the fresh coming again of the Christ child in our lives this Christmas...

excitement about Abba's greatest gift to humanity -- his unique son Jesus...

hope that the truth of Christmas makes ANYthing and EVERYthing else in this challenging [and sometimes crappy] world OK...

no, better than OK...

the hope of Jesus is MORE than enough for us to live, to die and then to live forever...

there is this same kairos moment latent within this parable...

as we look toward a new year...

2011...

there is the possibility that the soil of our heart will be healed...

hard hearts can be softened...

shallow hearts can be deepened...

crowded hearts can be focused...

when GOD performs this miracle...

when HE heals our heart...

the fertile soil cries out...

with anticipation...

with excitement...

with hope...

for FRUITFULNESS!!!

not just for addition...

but multiplication...

100 fold increase...

the release of the good news through our lives to the world is viral...

it spreads like an epidemic...

an epidemic of hope...

what about me...and you???

what fruit are we anticipating in our lives in 2011???

what fruitfulness are we excited about in 2011???

what hope sustains us as the new year soon dawns???

anticipation...

excitement...

hope...

for fruitfulness...

sweet dreams...

guy

i can't wait to see jeep tomorrow afternoon when i get home!!!