A FULL ADVENT-URE of TRUST & HOPE

Since I wrote my last post giving thanks and the rest of 2025 in The Blue Book, I've been preparing or looking for the right Advent plan, because I so love Advent (that special time of preparation of Jesus' arrival, His coming (as He did in a manger about 20 centuries ago) or His return (any time, still unknown but it's looking closer every day)! I've found a couple at YV that I'm considering but then suddenly I came upon a few at Substack, most want a subscription {I still have not given into this, mostly because I don't like doing online financial deals - call me 'untrusting'} Yes, that is my 2025 One Word TRUST, which is part of the reason I'm quickly putting together a blog post at this last minute before Advent starts November 30 ... but as I was gazing through the Substack ones, one of them that I'll share in a second, instantly it dawned on me ... why not use the last 4 posts of 2025 that will make 3,500 for me - A nice round number to end this year with the 4 weeks of Advent? Perfect, right? But I'm totally UN-prepared except that I know how many, and that "RESTFUL" (Substack by Tamara Hill Murphy, one of the top ten in Faith & Spirituality) gave me my idea {if I can make it do-able, it won't be as wonderful as hers, or the others I've seen, but it'll be mine} So I'm sharing her image and an invitation to her (& others that will join her) "Restful Advent":

[credit image: Tamara Hill Murphy]

Here are two of her recent posts inviting you to join:

{I already did}

"Welcome Advent Eve"

"The Advent We Need This Year"

There's one more about the ... Advent Daybook that is a great introduction to the preparation and team that did much preparation (as compared to me, winging mine)

[Substack is similar to "blogs" or websites, where people write and share common ideas. I'm basically just a reader there. I am not sure how this or if these links will work, but give it a try.]

My first thought that instantly came to me, and I, of course, brushed aside was "TRUSTFUL" instead of Restful ... which for me, would mean "full of TRUST". Now you can see why I let that one go as well as Restful in Trust - ha, still not yet, and it's been a full year working through my issues with TRUST, but I'm far from resting or restful when it comes to me & TRUST {but I must say, I think I made some progress yet I'm fully aware that I have much more work to do and TRUST God to complete.} anyways, I don't think any of those will work.

Being the traditionalist that I am, and that this serves as one of the four posts left to complete 2025 - I probably have to come back when I work out at least my first week of Advent. With all these excellent resources available, I TRUST God by His Spirit to pull this all together, but I highly recommend you searching the YV plans and Substacks. I do have plenty of books, I've collected through the years perhaps they might help. 

So I HOPE to return and add here for my first Week of Advent on TRUST. I will just repost this and you can scroll down to that portion, now that you've read my plan. If not, as you light your candle for the first week of Advent ... you'll have to be inspired from the writers that prepare in advance, so look for them. If I do re-post, it will be at my regular 6 pm (CT) Sunday. 

Who knows I might have to re-do one of my favorites: "Advent in Narnia" by Heidi Haverkamp? Surely Narnia has reflections on TRUST! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it, even if you don't remember much about the Chronicles of Narnia, it will still bless & prepare you for the CHRISTmas season. I'm pretty sure I've shared this Narnia adventure for Advent before on my blog. 

Perhaps I might just search Narnia for 

TRUST

 

"... expectations are not only about the giving and receiving of gifts but also about Advent and Christmastime offering us a glimpse of a world that’s kinder, more just, and more joyful than the one we usually experience. To truly enter that world, as Christians, the door we must walk through first is Christ." Heidi Haverkamp, Advent in Narnia

"When we deeply TRUST something we can't see, we must use our imaginations. ... (Hebrews 11:1)" Heidi Haverkamp, Advent in Narnia, Introduction

Who knows, maybe this book, can teach me to TRUST?
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After contemplating about my instant Advent plan, including my 2025 One Word: TRUST; I think I may end up with some good points but I know that I'd prefer reading "Advent in Narnia". I prayed about this and I HOPE that I can do this. My intent is to combine TRUST with each of the 4 traditional Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love (this may end up being less than I anticipate or surprisingly more, but we'll see how the Spirit pours all that I've gained this year and learned about TRUST or am able to gather together from my ever so many notes - here, there & online (lol). However, because I really want an ADVENT-ure this ADVENT of preparing my heart to TRUST more and more; I will be borrowing from the most wonderful source of C.S. Lewis and Rev. Heidi Haverkamp with her book, "Advent in Narnia" and HOPEfully draw you into wanting to get your own copy of her 28 days divided into 4 weeks (with an extra section of sessions for small group and church use included in the back). Perhaps by taking the time with Advent in Narnia, it will build my HOPE and TRUST. 

In Week One of "Advent of Narnia" these are the 7 days and Scriptures (although each of these 4 weeks do not necessarily build on the 4 themes of Advent, they are definitely woven in to the content and in the back there are 4 sessions that do: Session 1: The Wardrobe (Hope); Session 2: The Witch (Peace); Session 3: Father Christmas (Joy); Session 4: The Lion (Love). Maybe some of us need to reacquaint ourselves with "The Chronicles of Narnia"  (at least "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe") {just watch some movie clips} - the discussion guide is really wonderful to refresh your mind & deeply discuss all of this, but not with my focus on TRUST (although that is also interwoven through the adventures in Narnia)

WEEK ONE

 

1.Through the Wardrobe; Luke 13:24; novel CH. 1 2. The Lamppost; John 1:5; novel Chapter 1 3. A Great Light; Isaiah 9:2, 4-6 4. Mr. Tumnus; Matthew 9:13; novel Chapter 2 5. Repentance; Matthew 3:1-6 6. Turkish Delight; Isaiah 55:2a; novel Chapter 4 7. The Bread of Life; John 6:32-35

The boxed quote I shared above before closing Sat. <><><> was from the Introduction, explaining that the novel by C.S. Lewis "unfolded as a work of imagination and faith." So far, I have not found more about TRUST in Week 1 (but in Week 2, there is with Lucy, so that's for next week. But in that above boxed quote, I added Hebrews 11:1 which is about "faith" being "the assurance of things HOPED for" ... followed by "the conviction of things not seen". For me, that is TRUST and shows briefly the contrast of HOPE & TRUST. {I think I might have a little more later on this that you'll note} I like that as Heidi Haverkamp begins to write in day 1, "Through the Wardrobe" that "Walking into Advent can be like walking through the wardrobe". Then comes the other previously shared, boxed quote from before <><><> where we experience in both the HOPE of Advent and walking into the wardrobe to encounter an unexpected place known as Narnia ... "a heightened sense of excitement and expectation." Isn't this what the "waiting" and "preparing our hearts" is all about during this season? Our HOPE in Jesus Christ coming - then and soon again. Another quote from next week (10) "If we can't become like children in Advent, there may be no HOPE for us." In (12) the author helps us recall that "the creatures of Narnia wait for Aslan with longing and their expectation is contagious..." She goes on to write "Preparing ourselves to receive Jesus is about living our lives awake to HOPE, to love, and to our most needy neighbors." This entire paragraph is too special to not continue to share {I should have boxed all of this as I usually do since it's Heidi Haverkamp's words that I have highlighted in my book and put in quotes here}:

 

"... When ancient people wrote about apocalypse, what they described sounds despairing and destructive, but if we look a little deeper, those writers were trying to turn their worry and fear into HOPE. They were choosing to stay awake. We, too, must not fall asleep or numb ourselves but keep faith that God's LOVE in Christ is more powerful than a brutal world."

Let's just sit with this a while.

These are truly profound words for today!

Rev. Heidi Haverkamp wrote these words (2015) before any of what We now face in this world was happening, even before COVID, even before I returned to Minnesota. Yet she wisely wrote (in 12. "Keeping Awake" Week 2) those words to prepare us, to strengthen us, to let us know... she continues in the last paragraph (I have highlighted in yellow):

"As we wait for the coming of Jesus - at Christmas and on the Last Day - let us "keep awake" and practice HOPE, LOVE, and justice as part of our daily lives. Not because we want to "be good" or earn our place in heaven, but because by so doing we will stay alert enough to meet Jesus whenever He appears before us." Heidi Haverkamp, p. 27

I guess you can tell that her words greatly speak to me with HOPE; and to the very time in which we live and face now. My heart aches for many children and people in our world that are not being given much HOPE. "The arrival of the 4 Pevensie children filled the Narnians with HOPE and expectation because" of a prophecy that "said 4 humans would bring Aslan's return." (Susan, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy) Page 60 "not quite sure what they were doing in Narnia or what was happening there, but they chose to become part of the community they found, anyway..." what a conviction of what we must do in this time, while there's still time!

"... Christmas came to Narnia because of those small animals and their four children: their faith, their willingness to change and repent, and their love and care for one another." Heidi Haverkamp

What profound forethought was given to Heidi Haverkamp as she wrote this!
What she follows with as well, about the first Christmas came ...

" ... because of the power of God but also because of the willingness of ordinary people to prepare the way." ...

You know them well - in the Christmas story:
Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah,some shepherds, an innkeeper ...
"watching, waiting and willing to be part ofGod's plan" HIS story
Perhaps you, ordinary person, might be one too!for the story continues and we have our part

"... Advent means the same for us: watching, waiting and finding ways to enter God's" story

{I changed H. Haverkamp's "plan" to story}
Jesus is coming!
she continues with (I couldn't leave this part out):

"not to be born as a warrior king, a giant, or a lion, but as a tiny human baby.He will melt the power of sin, evil, and death." "However, the work of God's vulnerable but powerful love is also in our hands, now and until the day that Jesus will ... * "

Come again!
* Return *
This is our HOPE!
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I know that I should end this here. However, I need to add how HOPE and TRUST are closely related. HOPE is often associated with anticipation and a positive outlook on the future. If you know me, or have read my thoughts here on the blog or elsewhere, you know that I am weary and do not have much HOPE or a positive outlook with all that has been happening in 2025 and actually since I've returned from Mexico in 2016, each year it's burdened me more & more. So I am the least likely person to be encouraging you or anyone with HOPE. Yet I constantly look for any glimmer of HOPE because (this I can say, without a doubt) I TRUST GOD! Yes, I have my own difficulties with TRUST issues (with people) but throughout this year, I have found more and more each day that I have been leaning on my TRUST in my Lord Jesus. He is so faithful! I cannot even express how much or how deeply I am grateful for that TRUST. He never has failed me. Perhaps that is where my issue with humans lies and my lack of TRUST. Because TRUST is built over time through consistent actions and reliability. HOPE often serves as a foundation for TRUST. So I'm more HOPEFUL than I've been. When we have HOPE in a positive outcome, it can lead to TRUST, and lead us to TRUST others. But, here's where the conflict or "rub" lies. Right now, in these times, I don't truly see any positive coming - to me, it seems more morbid and futile every day. So, for me, I must prepare my mindset and at least try to find that silver lining in any cloud and do whatever I can to bring some positive where I can, even just where I am. TRUST can also enhance our HOPE so that's what I'm HOPING for in our future & some of Aslan's power, love and a sound mind. 

Clearly I need to find a way to put HOPE and TRUST together and become a bit more optimistic in the world, for the world and this starts in the world that you surround yourself with each day. I'm getting better at finding a peaceful, calm surrounding whenever possible through starting and ending my day as always with time with God & His Word, but some appropriate soothing music goes a long way. 

There is always more that I can continue writing especially on TRUST combined with HOPE, but I will end this with the prayer from session 1 in "Advent in Narnia" and my HOPE that as you light the first candle of Advent, you find more HOPE in Jesus, bringing light into your world as I HOPE for mine: 

 

"God of Hope, as we walk through the door of the season of Advent, watching and waiting for Your Son, journey with us. Give us a sense of wonder at Your works and in Your love for all creation. Give us courage to deepen our faith as we face the busy schedules and heightened expectations of the season. All this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

for all the boxed and unboxed portions

Heidi Haverkamp, "Advent in Narnia: Reflections for the Season", Presbyterian Publishing Corp.

May you enjoy a RESTFUL 1st week of Advent
with more   
HOPE
{and perhaps a copy of "Advent in Narnia"}
(the Kindle price is pretty good, but not even the used is)
It's a book your family or you will enjoy for years to comeespecially if you're all C.S. Lewis Narnia fans like me.
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Don't be surprised if I come back & add more on
HOPE and TRUST
but let's HOPE not 
and that what I shared unprepared is adequate
for now to reflect on this week.
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[I found a church that did this kinda recently on You TubeClass One, Class Two, Class Three]and a few others online
This was also interesting onHOPE AND TRUST
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I just read this beautiful Prayer by Rev Benjamin Cremer,I have to share:
O God of the poor and the tender-hearted,
You who lifted up the lowly and filled the hungry with good,
open our eyes to the faces behind the headlines.
Forgive us when our words bless policy over people,
when our fear wears the mask of piety,
when our silence compounds the hunger of our neighbors.
Give us the stubborn courage of Your Son:
to pray without ceasing,
to feed without counting cost,
to speak without fear,
and to love even the ones who oppose us.
Turn the hearts of leaders toward justice,
and grant wisdom to those who govern.
Teach us to hold our nation and its promises lightly enough
to hold human life with holy tenderness.
May Your kingdom come in our streets, our halls of power,
and at every kitchen table now emptied of bread.
In the name of the One who became poor for us,
Jesus the Christ. Amen.
🙏

"...We don’t get to have hope without having grief. Hope dares to admit that not everything is as it should be, and so if we want to be hopeful, first we have to grieve. First we have to see that something is broken and there is a reason for why we need hope to begin with. Advent matters, because it’s our way of keeping our eyes and our hearts and our arms all wide open even in the midst of our grief and longing. The weary world is still waiting in so many ways, in so many hearts, in so many places, for the fullness of the Kingdom of God to come." ... Sarah Bessey's Field Notes

I'm thankful when I read others with similar hearts & thoughts.
I'd better stop reading the Advent plans or I may keep adding to this.

So MANY THANKS GIVING TREASURES in THE BLUE BOOK ...

Although we are not doing 

The Blue Book

right now together 

for a Thanksgiving break

I am thankful for so much this

THANKSGIVING!

[image credit: Bible Study Tools]

So very thankful for YOU!

As I looked ahead at the ones that are left in The Blue Book, which will follow later in this post, the one that came after COMPASSION seems very appropriate for this Thanksgiving week and season of Advent that starts on this coming Sunday, November 30th - #50 which is:

GIVE YOUR LIFE AWAY

... which as true Christians, we know or accept that Jesus Christ, showed us this & how as He demonstrated His deep love for us by giving His life away (at the mere age of only 33, after only 3 jam-packed years of ministry). So, the very first & for me the very most important thing I give my thanks for each day - not just on Thanksgiving Day is for Jesus Christ and that He gave His life so that I might have eternal life. 

None of us can match that ... even if like many who serve in our military, and have served in the previous years for this nation; many who gave their very life and their families were forced to sacrifice and lose their loved ones, that might have given us freedom or protected our country but it did not give us eternal life; however all of their service gave us many of the freedoms and liberties afforded all of us for many, many years yet some of the many of us were not given the same freedoms & liberties that we all should have had. So I am grateful for the men and women who serve in our country to protect our democracy and pray fervently with much hope that we preserve and are able to keep the Constitution and restore so much of which is being destroyed. {I will refrain from detailing the atrocities of this nation now & in the past, because I am so thankful for having the privilege to be born here that others were not given or it's being taken away or never fully allowed for them to receive equal part.} Lives have been given and taken away unjustly and without cause. Every life is precious. And God is watching! 

I came here today, not with all this grief and burden that I finish that last gratitude but to share the Opening Prayer for this 50th (chapter) because it was not just One Word - it was one that still had much to share between GIVE and AWAY and that's YOUR LIFE! How precious that is!

Since I have not yet read this one, and truthfully I was going to skip this #50 & #51 because we have more Words to finish and not enough weeks, so I figured we could always come back to the ones like this and do at another time (when there is more time), probably next year. Yet there are many reasons to reflect on the meaning of this phrase "give your life away". By skipping it, I, in no way meant to slight its content, because it always surprises me with the readings of reflection and the scriptures what they hold or held for me. And even though, my focus so far was literally giving your life away - what I think is meant (but like I said I have not read beyond the opening prayer) is "surrendering your life to God" (which does not mean dying, but it might or it could), it's living your life for others and for the good of others and sacrificing your own desires for a greater purpose. Without getting back on my previous thread of thoughts {that I walked away from above}, I'd like to say that right now, in the times that we are living in, we are being given such a CALLING - to live a selfless life by serving others (and I'm sure if you see what's happening in the world around us) that you know we are doing the exact opposite. Far too many are living in fear. Far too many are living for their selves, they're greedy for power & wealth at the expense of others that cannot afford this. Following Jesus' example or His many teachings calls us to put the needs of others before your own by living a life of service (and worship) and commitment. When we surrender our lives to our Creator, we hand control of our life to a greater good and a higher power of loving through living selflessly.

In Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Hope, he used Romans 6:13 in the GNT version to explain:

“Give yourselves to God . . . and surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes.” Romans 6:13 (GNT) Surrendering to Jesus means laying down every area of your life. God wants you to learn to be a giver in life, not a taker." Pastor Rick Warren, May, 2025

{sorry to say that there is not much of that happening currently}
I am sure that we thankfully can still find some examples of this but not like it was. People (children mostly) are dying by thousands because of de-funding of programs and letting product meant to save their lives not be accessible to them. I know that God is not at all happy about what we are allowing, or in some cases, doing, if we are in a responsible position. Clearly I have much heartache and much to say about all this but once again, I will refrain & it's not my intent here at all. I really should have shared the prayers before this as I was led.

So let me share the Opening Prayer(s): 1st by Ken Gire (JB blog) and the 2nd in The Blue Book by Ignatius of Loyola

"Dear Jesus, Help me to realize the many voices of hunger, the many sounds of thirst, the many cries of loneliness, the many callings of sickness and nakedness and imprisonment.  Help me to hear in all of them something of You calling to me to become more than I am. More understanding.   More compassionate. More involved. More like You. (Reflections on the Word by Ken Gire)

that's my heart
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This next one by Ignatius of Loyola is a Prayer of Surrender (Suscipe, the Radical Prayer)

"Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me." Ignatius of Loyola

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These are the remaining ones in the

[continued on J Branch's *blog in April, May & June, 2013]

each one linked to Day 1 on blog for that part

{I might add more of the Scriptures or Readings of Reflection here too]

#50 GIVE YOUR LIFE AWAY

#51 INVOLVED IN MINISTRY (*A Life of Ministry)

#52 DOWN {back in *March, 2013}

#53 CALLING

#54 DIRECTION

#55 JOY and CELEBRATION

#56 HOME

Still unsure which ones, or even if we will continue, but I'm thinking of breaking JOY & CELEBRATION into twostarting with JOY the week of December 15, and thenCELEBRATION for the first part of Christmas week,followed by HOME for the remaining days of 2025.
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During my Internet issues/service interruptedI have felt that perhaps God is/was CALLINGme away from devicesinto the many half finished books I need to read along with MORE TIME with Him and His Word
It might just be an excuse or a cop out for me,trying to put the pieces of my life togetherbut truthfully, I just couldn't figure outwhy all these technical issuesand what is God really wanting to say to me.
Much soul searching and our Blue Book time has indeed given me so much valuable reflection and readingbut I do have far too many books to read{so maybe He was telling me "not another book"} loluntil I make a dent in the ones I have ...
BUT
I did find one most recently that I have to share:
It's really too expensive, but I have rewards that might make it do-able that I have to use or I lose (though I shouldn't)and probably it's too much to read right now, however, it piqued my interest again in theNative American view (by a Choctaw elder)so I'm enjoying the Kindle sample of

Perhaps you might want to check it out more.
I was not looking for this but so grateful that I found it.

[there are two more images with the book]
It is published by a local publishing company in Mpls., MN

{yeah, you know, I'm going to order it}
Sorry Godlast one for this year🙏but I really would like to gift one to ...

[image credit to Etsy]but I've had it saved for quite some time & don't recall from which Etsy

I have begun setting all of these up at YV🙏 and plan to continue & publishto use whichever and whenever one chooses
MANY BLESSINGSto you & yoursthisThanksgiving Day Eve!
🦃