Dr. Cynthia Fisher (MACO ’99)

One year, when my three kids were little, my husband and I invited some of their friends over to help trim the Christmas tree and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Our children loved it so much that we turned this fun gathering into an annual Christmas party tradition. The kids’ excitement was contagious. For years, their ornaments only made it halfway up the tree – evidence of their enthusiastic decorating at toddler height. After the party ended and they were asleep, I would quietly rearrange the ornaments to cover the entire tree, not just the bottom half.

We found that with each year, the sense of anticipation grew stronger. My children could barely wait for this beloved tradition, and their eagerness led us to start celebrating earlier and earlier. For these many years, we have held our “Celebrate Jesus Tree-trimming Party” on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (I know this is way too early for some), marking the beginning of our Advent season with anticipation, hope, and joyful expectation.

As we think about Advent and the coming of Jesus, I often observe in myself and others that our hearts tend to focus on the commercial and busy aspects of the season: shopping, wrapping, food preparation, and the list goes on. Yet, as I reflect on the exuberant anticipation of those little ones, I am struck by how easily we adults lose this sense of wonder for the One who laid down his life for us with a sacrificial love we may never fully grasp on this side of heaven. Whether through the temporal cares that bog us down—distractions, endless tasks, social media or trauma and deep pain—we find it difficult, sometimes, almost impossible, to celebrate the One who has done so much for us.

So how do we prepare our hearts to reset and realign toward Jesus and the work he is doing in all of us? By slowing down and pondering the dual purpose of Advent: first, remembering how a holy God humbled himself to be born in a manger and, second, anticipating his joyous second coming. This hope is twofold. We rejoice in his first arrival and the sacrifice he made for our sins, and we pause and rest in the hope of his return. As we abide in this tension between what has happened and what will take place, we find that our hope rests on his faithfulness, his promises, and his love.

Advent invites us to refocus on Jesus. Like little children excited with anticipation of good things to come, we can walk intentionally to live in the here-and-now. We practice this by scaling back, creating simpler rhythms, and pausing to focus on the beauty and simplicity of Christmas. For some, Christmas can bring loneliness or pain, and even in these difficult circumstances, hope and anticipation can coexist amid suffering. It can often feel counterintuitive to create space for slower routines during the busy Christmas season. Still, Advent creates space to acknowledge joy and heartache while simultaneously grasping onto the promise that our Savior came for and ministered to those who were weary and oppressed in spirit (Matthew 11:28; Isaiah 61).

This is our invitation. Let us remember to be intentional during these four weeks of Advent – expressing joy freely (like little ones do), without reservation, with gratitude, and with full optimism. It means lighting the Advent candle every week in the bright and dark spaces of our lives and trusting in the Light of the World who was born in a manger, who will come again, and who enters into our rejoicing and also our pain. Through Advent, we cultivate hopeful anticipation, celebrating his incarnation, preparing our hearts, and reflecting anew on his redeeming work.

Dr. Cynthia Fisher (MACO ’99), assistant professor of counseling, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and mental health counselor. She is the clinical director and founder of Quadra Counseling Associates. She co-authored two chapters in Skills for Safeguarding: A Guide for Preventing Abuse and Fostering Healing in the Church (InterVarsity Press, Dec. 2024).