December 9th, 2025

Dear Friends,

Delivery was as predicted. The furniture arrived and it exceeded our anticipation. The colour was as we had hoped. Sharon had done a great job in researching, such that the size was perfect. Everything worked. Nothing was damaged in the packaging or shipping. After two years, we have a “furnished living room” (or something like it).

While it’s ludicrous to compare the hope of Israel for a Messiah with the hope of Doug and Sharon for new furniture, there are certain parallels worth mentioning as we enter into this second week of Advent, hoping and waiting. It is worth our while to consider the nature and effect of hope. 

First, hope implies waiting. We do not hope for something that we have or something that we can see. Time had to pass between our purchase and the day we took delivery. But, because our hope was certain, delivery was also certain though, admittedly, we didn’t have a fixed time.

Second, hope required a willingness to get rid of some things. We already had some furniture and we definitely don’t have enough space for that furniture as well as the new furniture. Thus, the fulfillment of our hope required that we change our living space. We had to get rid of some things to make room for these new things. Had we not been willing to rid ourselves of some comfortable things, we would have had no room for the new things. They would have created only crowding, chaos and short tempers.

Hope also involved the willingness to rearrange the space of our home, a space that is limited to begin with. By trial and error, we came up with a new configuration that seems to work for us. That being said, our space seems more constricted, even while it’s more comfortable and functional.

As we continue to practice hope, let me ask you a few questions. What, really, are you waiting and hoping for? Do you really have room for that for which you are waiting and hoping? Is there really room in your heart and mind for the kingdom of God that Jesus made available (He, himself, said his kingdom was within us — see Luke 17:21)? Then, are you willing to rearrange (note that I said “rearrange” not “curate”) your life so that the kingdom you are hoping for can fit? Are you willing to make the necessary changes so that the full effect of the kingdom can have a lasting impact on your life, and then through your life to the lives of others?

It turns out that hoping is not passive but active. It requires something of us. It changes our plans. But it also promises a glorious new reality.

Blessings!

Doug