Posts by Betsy
The Holy Birth: God’s Final Word Is Love
Four candles flicker in the dark — Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. All Advent long, we’ve been lighting one flame at a time, watching the glow spread, watching the story unfold. And now, on Christmas Eve, the waiting stills. The last candle’s flame steadies into a quiet brilliance. Everything we’ve hoped for is finally here — not as thunder…
Read MoreWhen God Comes Close: Holy Love Made Flesh
By the fourth week of Advent, the waiting is almost over. Three candles already glow — Hope, Peace, and Joy — and now, we light the final flame: Love. The light has grown brighter each week, but this candle feels different. It’s softer, steadier, somehow closer — as if the glow itself leans toward us. This is the mystery of…
Read MoreWhen God Turns Sorrow to Song: The Joy of Holy Reversal
By the third week of Advent, something begins to shift. Two candles already burn on the wreath — Hope and Peace — steady reminders that God has stepped into the darkness and begun to make things right. Now, we light the Joy candle, often pink, as if the flame itself blushes with delight. Joy breaks in.…
Read MoreWhen God Makes Us Whole: Holy Peace Beyond Understanding
The first flicker of Advent light brings hope — the promise that God has not forgotten His world. The second candle glows with peace. But not the kind of peace that means silence or stillness alone. This is holy peace — the peace that comes when God begins to make things whole again. “He Himself is our peace.”…
Read MoreWhen God Steps into the Dark: Holy Hope in a Broken World
The story of Advent doesn’t begin with twinkling lights or angels singing. It begins in the dark. God’s people were waiting—generation after generation—for light to pierce the silence. The prophets had spoken of a day when wrong things would be made right, but centuries passed, and the darkness seemed to thicken. And yet, in that…
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