Advent began last Sunday, December 3 and ends on Sunday, December 24 (Christmas Eve).

Advent is all about that **SUPER EXCITING** feeling when you just can’t contain yourself!! Examples of this feeling:

• Christmas Eve night (Santa! Baby Jesus!)
• the night before your birthday/vacation to Disney/something awesome!
• the moment when all you feel is GLEE because someone awesome was born or is coming to visit, etc.!

There are many moments when we are so excited and just can’t hide it. That’s what it was like for HUNDREDS of YEARS while people waited for Jesus to come(!!!). Can you imagine waiting…and waiting…and waiting for God’s Son to come (a king!) and *bam* all of a sudden a little baby boy was born. This little helpless baby was our Savior! What would this look like today??? Here’s my take:

If Jesus was Born Today (a modern-day nativity story)

One typical Thursday morning, Mary’s iPhone alarm went off, and she jumped out of bed. “Oh, no, I’m going to be late for class!” But wait, that was no alarm sound from her phone–it was the sound of an angel singing! “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” said the angel. “You’re going to be pregnant with God’s Son, and your fiance Joseph will name the baby Jesus.” Whoa, Mary was freaked out!

So, instead of going to her 8:00 am college Biology class at Mizzou online, she quickly texted Joseph with the news. Turns out, an angel sent him an Instagram post with a photo of where they would be traveling. Joseph and Mary were from Weaubleau, so they weren’t used to going to the big city of KC. They were a little scared, especially since Mary’s car was really old and broke down a lot. But God said to go…so they went.

After a flat tire and other crazy events on their journey, Mary and Joseph finally made it to Kansas City on December 24. Traffic was really bad–why were so many people shopping for millions of gifts on this day, of all days? Their car wouldn’t make it to Joseph’s grandparents’ house so they tried to find a hotel. No rooms available. Not anywhere.

All of a sudden, Mary’s car just died–the motor was done. They had exited off of 435 onto Holmes Road, a pretty busy intersection. They were cold and tired, and Mary really needed a safe spot to rest while the wind blew all around. The baby was coming soon.

So Joseph carefully laid down some blankets and a pillow under the overpass of the freeway. It was really hard ground and really loud from the vehicles whizzing by, but at least they were safe. It was a long night. And, in that unlikely place, the Son of God, the King, was born. She wrapped Jesus up and held him tight, and this little family could hear the faint sound of angels singing in the distance. It was a holy moment on a special night. Then Joseph tweeted the Good News.  = ) . Is that sort of what it was like?

Advent Eat-vent is this Sunday, 12/10!

• Potluck lunch with chicken!
• Trivia Bingo game for all! (prizes, too)
• Decorate Christmas cookies and make an Advent calendar.
• Have a ton of fun with church friends of all ages! All are welcome for this inter-generational event. See you there!