The Bible has many references on pausing. The purpose of pausing was to reflect on and to praise Yahweh. Today, the purpose to pause and reflect on God is needed just as much. The noise and clutter offered by our world is relentless and can be all consuming. Advent is all about pausing. It’s an invitation to reflect on God and what he has done for us through the birth of Jesus and what he will do when Jesus comes back. Stephanie Swanson has known about Advent’s gift of pausing since she was little. Growing up, her parents read simple Advent devotionals to her and her siblings. What stood out to her were those small moments when her parents pushed pause to talk about the fact that Christmas is about Jesus. Now, as a mom, Advent stands out as an opportunity to pause not just for herself, but also with her kids and family.
“Pausing during Advent helps me as a mom,” Stephanie confessed. “It helps me prepare my own heart. Pausing is such a good discipline but a challenging one too. I found if I don’t pause and make sure to do that, the month of December flies by and then Christmas is over. I look back and ask, “What happened?” We might have baked a bunch of cookies, or we did all these things, but it felt more stressful than special. I think I realized a few years ago we don’t need to make this a stressful month. I don’t want that so it's asking, “How can we take off some of the stress and focus on what’s important?”
One simple way Stephanie and her husband Chad have pushed the pause button during Advent is at the dinner table. Most nights of the week the family reads a table card devotional. Dinner time has become a good time to pause and have those conversations.
“One card for each day for the month of December,” Stephanie said with sincerity. “You pull the card out and there’s a picture on one side, a verse, and the other side has a couple of questions on that verse. We talk through it, maybe just one of those questions, and it gets us to think who Jesus is and why he came and why he had to come for us. We just had that conversation just the other night. We talked about that Jesus came to die for us but also why that matters.”
Advent has also looked like for their family reading the Jesus Storybook Bible together through the month of December. No matter what or how, the conversation that has happened with either the cards or the Storybook Bible has been good.
“It’s given us space to ask those questions and has made us think,” Stephanie smiled. “I wouldn’t normally think of these questions, so it gets us talking and talking about why we believe what we believe. For me and my faith, it’s been encouraging. To hear your kids pick up on those truths and wrestle with those questions and together! It’s also a reminder for me to slow down. It made the dinner time special and important.”
In those moments of pause, Stephanie has been reminded of the call God has given to her as a mom... to be a steward of her boy’s hearts. She admitted that she can’t make her kids believe and accept Jesus. It’s up to the Holy Spirit to do that in their hearts. It’s not only the faithful planting of those seeds in her kid’s hearts and pointing them to the Lord, but it’s also pointing herself to the Lord. Having daily time to draw near to Jesus, to pursue a friendship with him and commune with him has been vital.
“I’ve realized, as a parent in general, I can’t point my kids to Jesus if I am not pointing my own heart towards him first,” Stephanie admitted. “That time is so important for me and God. Even if it’s just a few minutes before bed or brushing my teeth in the morning... it’s making it happen. Your kids watch you make it happen. In the busy moments to just say to them “I’m going to stop for a minute and pray. Would you like to join me?” Or offering them to sit here with me as I pray. This is so crucial otherwise my tendency is to get overwhelmed, stressed and anxious and then not do it. That pausing brings me back to focusing on what is important.”
Stephanie also shared that this season can also be hard for family and friends. Some want to totally avoid Advent for that reason. She encouraged those who are discouraged with this:
“I hope that they remember to find comfort in Jesus. People that we have lost during the holidays that there is sadness as we remember them, but we get to rejoice because Jesus came. Death is not the end!”
Our days can go by quickly and then weeks but to those who don’t know how or are just too overwhelmed with the ‘stuff,’ may this be a gentle, sweet invitation to start today and to start small.
“It doesn’t have to be anything crazy,” Stephanie laughed. “You might try a little discussion with your kids, and it goes haywire but know that’s okay. If their attention spans only last for a minute being little, that's okay too. Those little baby steps over time make a bigger impact than doing one big thing and hope it does something. It’s the baby moments.”
Stephanie and Chad hope and pray that their boys remember why we celebrate Christmas. It is a time for their family, and for all Christians, to pause, reflect and worship God and consider the saving gift he gave to us in Jesus. Join us and push the pause button in your life today and all the days going forward.
Join us December 24th at Midtown or West as we pause as a Church and reflect on and worship Jesus who is born!