Soul Sister Time

            The spiritual life is about patience.  The season of Advent draws us into an attitude of patience.  When enduring patiently, it is helpful that you are not the only one who must wait.  It is even comforting to know that others have waited before and perhaps even longer than you. James 5:10-11 draws our attention to the patience of the prophets who foretold the events God would bring about in the world He created.  Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.   As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. When I take the patience of Isaiah who walked around naked for three years (Isaiah 20:3) as an example, then I don’t feel so bad about the patience God is asking of me.  There is Jeremiah who never ...

            Every heart requires joy!  Joy is what makes us feel alive.  It is eases the pain of living in a fallen world.  Joy is a side effect of a personal relationship with Christ.  No one talked about joy more than the Apostle Paul.  Obviously his joy didn’t come from his circumstances.  In fact in the book of Philippians he writes (from his prison in Rome) the reason for his joy and encourages others to be joyful.             When was the last time you belly-laughed?  Now that doesn’t happen every day for me.  I have a smile on my face from the memory of my last belly-laugh.  It was after a long week of ministry to women in India.  A wise video-photographer asked our women’s team to talk about what we had experienced.  By that time we were all a little giddy from the way God had used us, and we decided to practic...

            Who came up with the idea to add pink to Advent purple that already clashes with Christmas red and green?   You can search for yourself on the internet and realize that there are many views on the origins, but it is somehow related to the Catholic church and a Pope receiving a pink rose from a parishioner that gave him great joy—the focus of the third Sunday in Advent.   Whatever the reason, I prefer it when Advent Candles come with a pink one.   This year I had to search high and low for a pink tapered candle, and the one I ended up with is much shorter and wider than my slender purple ones.               I do like what the pink candle represents to me though.   It is the joy of this season.   As I told you not all churches treat Advent as they do Lent and focus on repentance.   Even if you are fasting and repenting in prepa...