The Charltons

It's that Advent time

December 18, 2014

We love Christmas!
Especially me (Mike), and my friends at the Prayer Furnace can testify to that all the live-long day. I have been playing Christmas music at my desk since the day after Thanksgiving... actually, I started a little earlier than that, but it wasn't non-stop; now it is! However, this Christmas has been very different for us - we've moved to a different locale, we're not in our own house, and finances have been "stretched" to say the least. Now all of that sounds unpleasant and difficult, and some of it truly is, but Melody and I have used the new season we are in to step back and have some time to reflect on what this time really means, what really matters, and what it is about this time that really brings us that sense of awe, wonder, excitement, and hope... Yes, hope. What does that really mean? What is hope? Why do we hope? What do we have to hope for? The more we think about it and the more we look for it, the greater the revelation we receive, the higher the understanding we have, the deeper the awe and wonder and fascination and excitement we experience. Hope, then, is best explained from our perspective as from the dark to the light, from the unknown to the known, from the lesser to the greater.

We've moved to a different locale... We're not in Hampton Roads for the Holidays for the first time since I was 5, and the first time EVER for Melody and the kids. We haven't had ice skating at MacArthur, the light shows at the Botanical Gardens or the Boardwalk, Advent at KPC/Grace/LHOP, friends who have moved out of town coming back in town for seasonal reunions, shopping at MacArthur or Greenbrier or Coliseum, Handel's Messiah singalongs at all the churches, and the list goes on. We've done a lot of reminiscing, nostalgic remembrances to the amazing holiday seasons past in Hampton Roads, Peninsula and Southside, and at first it left us feeling bitter, cold, lonely. "This Christmas won't be like any of the others." we lamented...  And then the Holy Spirit breathed on that statement, that idea. "Wait," we said, "this Christmas won't be like any of the others. It's new, fresh, something other than and outside of the known!" Yes, we greatly miss the traditions and experiences from where we've come, but this new place opens the door to new possibilities, new traditions, new experiences. What had once given us reason for sadness and low expectations had now instilled in us a new sense of expectation and belief for the better, the greater, the glimpse of the undying lands. I started asking myself, is this hope? Is this what it really means to have found hope?

We're not in our own house...We are living in the finished basement of someone else's home, we only just moved to the apartment in October so some things are still in a state of unpacking, the location is a little distant from the Prayer Furnace and a lot of the community we've been connecting with, they have 5 children and we have 3 so the noise transfer between levels is always humming, and it's gotten better but sometimes children from both families have a momentary lapse and wander into each other's space,  Many of that does not seem ideal, beneficial, or to be honest enjoyable for either family. But much of the Kingdom of God is like that - what the world sees as uncomfortable or unacceptable or less than is what the Kingdom uses as a chance to have Heavenly perspective. Thankfully, the grace for all of this began long ago when Melody and I we're fashioned in our mothers, and as God knit us in respective wombs He saw fit to make us flexible and low-key and easy to please in most scenarios. Even more thankfully, the couple whose roof we now live under operates in a very similar way. They like to go with the flow (in all the good ways), they love to accommodate and assist as much as they can, and they're happy to be involved or hands-off depending on what others need/want. And they love kids! I mean, they have 5 of their own ages 6 and under, so that and everything aforementioned, it really does show how perfect God arranged this space for us. And speaking of the space! I know I said it was a basement, but it is 90% finished (about to complete the kitchen) and it is humongous for a basement, having 3 bedrooms and its own bathroom, and just this week we feel like we finally have furniture and items arranged so that they compliment the flow of the space and such that we don't sit around saying "Is there any other arrangement that would look or work better?" It's not just working, it's working well, and many reading this probably understand the importance in that difference. God has been taking care of us every step of the way, and while we may have had a short season of bouncing from house to cabin to house (we joke that we were living Matthew 8:20, so it wasn't so bad seeing as we had something in common with Jesus) He knew just where He was taking us and how long it would take us to get there. We're learning more and more how to trust God and be fluid and flexible to the wind of His Spirit, but even more than just trusting Him and following in those moments we're learning that before those times come we have the assurance of His faithfulness toward us to lead us, and lead us well. The leadership of Jesus is perfect! And I ask myself once again, is this hope? Is this what I am hoping for?

Finances are difficult... I received my very last paycheck from the schools on September 30th, started on staff at the Prayer Furnace with few prospects for financial partners and zero raised income, my house has been for sale since July and hasn't sold, and almost as bad as not selling (or worse depending on who you ask) our house went under contract at the end of September under false pretense and when everything was said and done we were left with more difficulties with selling the house and less money in our pockets. Much of what surrounded our decision to step through the Lord's open door and invitation into living full-time as missionary and minister before God looked foolish and downright confusing through the lens of the world. And while we left the security of the monthly check in marketplace ministry, which has in itself much wisdom and is a very good and right thing to have, we have found a new peace and joy in trusting Him to provide our bread, our clothing, a place to lay our heads. I have shared with those I have spoken with about this season that Melody and I have experienced joy and peace that we have never felt before. We didn't work ourselves up - there was no hype, no fanfare, no trevail, no fasting and intercessions (not at first anyway) - we simply decided to ground ourselves in His word and our history with the Lord, and He took it from there. Many times over, when everything should have made us scared or anxious or unsure, we instead felt rivers of peace flowing from Heaven into our hearts. I have never felt such a nearness from God!! (Yes, two exclamation points) The work of the Holy Spirit was tangibly and noticeably overriding the instincts inside of us that wanted to scream "Preserve! Protect! Run! Withdraw!" And accompanying His peace, His joy, have been some of the most miraculous provisions I have ever experienced. Is every "i" dotted and "t" crossed? No, not yet. But all I see are positive trends. The words of the hymn echo in my heart - When peace, like a river, attendeth my way; When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul. Is this the feeling of hope? Is this what we search for in the Advent season?

 

So what, then, have we found to be hope? The new and exciting places God has taken and is taking us? The assurance in His faithfulness and leadership we have grown and are growing in? The joy inexpressible and peace indescribable that has filled us every step of the way? Well, yes. Yes to all of that. But a much bigger yes to the real reason, true source, living Word that IS Hope. The timing of the revelations we have received and the season of Advent could not have juxtaposed more perfectly. Jesus IS Hope! He is the reason, the source, the sustainer, the definition of Hope. And He's coming again! I feel like the companions at the end of The Last Battle - “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!"

We have so much inside of us right now!  We started slow on here but have purposed to share much of that, in greater detail and frequency, on this website. But for now, we want to leave you with this Advent prayer.

 

God of Love,

Your son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us.
He is a sign of your love.
Help us walk in that love during the weeks of Advent,
As we wait and prepare for his coming.
We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior.
Amen.