Dec. 7, 2022 A handful of weeks ago, my husband and I talked about the fact that we almost always vacation in the same place, and we haven’t seen most of this beautiful country. We talked about the fact that our son, Jake, is nearly 16, and he’s reaching the age where he appreciates visits to historical sites, landmarks and other locations. We talked about the fact that he’s at the age where we can now all have fun on a trip with no theme parks or pools/beaches involved. We talked about a few of the places we’d love to visit. Almost on a whim, we booked a trip that will include two new destinations. As I chatted with a friend about how much more we’re paying for groceries, gas, heat, electricity and other necessities than ever before, my friend noted that I booked a vacation despite that. “I needed something to look forward to,” I responded. “I think we all did.” I’m not sure if it’s the weather, the loss of daylight or just the general effects of coming out of the pandemic, but the Fargo family has been in a bit of a rut. I refer to it as a “general malaise.” Nothing specifically is wrong, but things just seem off. Planning a vacation is helping a bit. While it has its stressful moments, it’s fun to talk about and plan for new experiences, new sights and new opportunities. Having something to anticipate and look forward to gives me and my family hope. It gives us a taste of the joy we hope we’ll find in our future adventures. It struck me that I gave that response to my friend in this Advent season, the time our Church invites us to anticipate and await the celebration of our king and our Lord coming into this world to save it and coming into our lives to save us. There’s more than enough darkness in our world right now, both literally and figuratively. While I find that to be true now, I’m guessing it’s always been true. I’m really thankful that our Church and our Lord gave us this time to anticipate a joyful coming and await the celebration. The time of preparation, while it may sometimes be challenging, is also a source of great hope and a taste of the joy. I needed something to look forward to. I think we all did. |
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