An Advent Update

A lot has happened since my last post – I’ve done close to 50 more hours of chemo, but have also gotten to take this past whole week off from getting treatment. It’s been a good week with a glimpse into the future of life post chemo. We are currently mentally preparing for this next 40 hour week that starts tomorrow (December 8th). According to the doctor it should be my last week of chemo ever, which is very exciting. It means that we are to the half-way point of treatment and that hopefully, the worst is behind us. Being at the half-way point means that next is several surgeries, and while they can be pretty invasive, they shouldn’t have the long-term, cumulative effects that we’ve experienced with chemo. So Friday afternoon will be a big moment when we should be able to walk out of the chemo room for good. There’s always the chance that in the future I will have more chemo, but for now, Friday is a day to look forward to with some hope.

We have also experienced the beginning of Advent, a season I love. In a season where we are in need of some hope, joy, and peace, Advent couldn’t have come clattering into our lives at a better moment. Advent reminds us that there is something on the horizon, that the days are building to something, and it’s a season where we remember and focus on the hope, joy, peace, and love of the coming of Jesus. It’s a season of expectation that lines up with our deepest longings.

These past several months have been really hard. It seems like we have been caught in months of Advent rather than a few weeks – months of waiting, of expectations, of longing, of delay. And not just in our personal lives, but we see it with the state of our world – the injustice that is seemingly spilling over each day.  This year has deeply stirred in me the need for things to be made right – for all things to be made new. Shadows are growing and we need the light to push back on the darkness that feels so present.

In our Advent readings, Allison and I recently read Psalm 13 which starts:

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”

It feels like our world is groaning with the question of “how long?” How long must injustice be normal? How long until healing happens? How long must we wait for _______? How long until the cries of hearts are heard?

Advent is our reminder that love comes down to rescue and that it doesn’t at all look like our expectations but that healing and love are made complete through wisdom and grace. And so we find ourselves in a season of expectation, trusting that our cries of “how long” are being heard, and that our hope is not misplaced. And that’s needed good news of great joy for this season.