A couple of days ago I had 20 minutes with nothing to do! Instead of doing what I would usually do -- starting a new task (that probably would have taken 25 minutes to complete, so I would've been pressed for time again!) -- I pulled down an old book from the shelf, of Advent meditations. I thought I would open myself up to one of them.

I only got as far as the author's introduction before the subject of my meditation caught me! The author dated his introduction, "Advent, 1982." And that made me stop and think and remember and contemplate. In Advent of 1982, Patty was three months pregnant with the child who would become our Emily -- headstrong and compassionate and willing to take risks and loving. Emily, who would become drum major in high school (for two consecutive years! Unprecedented!); who would graduate with honors from James Madison University with a piano performance degree; who would be now be working in Manhattan for an artist's management agency, including making arragements for the Julliard String Quartet when they are on tour; who, God willing, is just at the beginning of what will come! In Advent, 1982, there was no way we could have even begun to know what this pregnancy would become.

But isn't every moment pregnant with the future? In fact, God is always bringing something new into being! It is a matter of watching for what is being created, in an attitude of hope. This is Advent practice.