In This Post:

• The Final Moments of Waiting
• Three Dimensions of Love
• A Love That Unites Us All
• Making Room for Wonder
• Your Invitation to Love
• What's Next in This Series

The Final Moments of Waiting

Picture this: It's December 22, 2024. The world's countdown clocks tick with shopping urgency, but another countdown nears completion - one that began not with Black Friday but with creation itself. As we light this fourth candle, we join a convergence of holy anticipation:

Mary, in her final days of pregnancy, feeling every movement of the child who would move heaven and earth. Creation itself, groaning with anticipation as the moment of reconciliation draws near. And here we stand, our own hearts trembling between preparation and fulfillment, as we prepare to welcome Love incarnate.

Three Dimensions of Love

Love reveals itself in different ways this season:

• The World's Love: "Buy this to show you care!" "Express your love in three easy payments!" These offerings scratch the surface of love but miss its heart, like mistaking a gift's wrapping for its contents.
• Human Love: Beautiful but limited, like trying to fill an ocean with a teacup. We love deeply, but our love is just a reflection of something greater.
• God's Love: The love that couldn't stay in heaven but had to be born in a manger. This is love that transforms everything: a feeding trough into a throne, shepherds into evangelists, and wishlists into wonder. It's love that doesn't just give us what we want but what we need - God with us, changing everything.

A Love That Unites Us All

As the final hours of Advent approach, something beautiful happens across the Christian family. Whether gathering in candlelit reverence on Christmas Eve or celebrating with dawn's first light on Christmas morning, believers unite in witnessing love's arrival:

• In quiet vespers and joyous morning services
• In traditional ceremonies and contemporary celebrations
• In every cultural expression
• Through every denominational tradition

Though we may welcome Christ's birth at different hours and in different ways, we share this truth: Love came down to lift us up.

Making Room for Wonder

As we light this fourth candle, we're completing more than just an Advent wreath. We're preparing our hearts for love's arrival - whether we'll welcome Him in evening's hush or morning's glory.

Take a moment today to:

• Light your fourth candle (completing the circle of light)
• Set aside your lists (even the checking-twice kind)
• Breathe in the wonder of waiting
• Remember that love's perfect timing may look different for each family

Your Invitation to Love

The world offers us "love at special holiday prices." But Advent invites us to a love that transforms everything it touches - not just for a season, but for eternity.

As we reach this final Sunday of Advent, may this fourth candle remind us: true love isn't found in what we give or receive, but in Who was given for us. Whether you'll welcome Him in evening's peaceful glow or morning's joyous light, you're part of love's great story.

Because at its heart, this final purple candle reminds us: love isn't something we achieve or deserve -- it's Someone who chose us, waited for the perfect moment, and arrived in the most unexpected way. And that's worth celebrating in every way possible.

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Advent 2024