December 2025 Chimes

Pastor’s

        Letter

December 2025

Dear siblings in Christ,

Advent always seems to sneak up on us, doesn’t it? One moment we’re finishing leftover Halloween candy, and the next we’re staring down a December calendar that’s somehow already full. Concerts, kids’ activities, work deadlines, travel plans, holiday gatherings—everything seems to stack up at once. And, of course, the ordinary responsibilities don’t go away just because it’s Advent. Life keeps happening, sometimes faster than we can catch our breath.

So if this season doesn’t feel like a quiet, reflective time of holy waiting… you’re not alone. Honestly, some years Advent feels less like an invitation and more like one more thing added to the pile.

And yet, this is exactly where Advent speaks its gentle, persistent word of grace. Because the hope of this season isn’t that we will somehow carve out the perfect amount of spiritual space or arrive at Christmas with serenely folded hands. Advent doesn’t start with our preparation at all. It starts with God’s initiative: God coming toward us, right into the middle of our overcrowded, overcommitted, very real lives.

Even Mary and Joseph discovered that God shows up in places that are cramped and chaotic and far from ideal and still calls them holy. That truth hasn’t changed.

Maybe that’s why the Advent story begins with so much honesty: prophets crying out in the wilderness, people longing for justice, a world aching for peace. Advent doesn’t ask us to pretend everything is calm and bright. It asks us to name our longing and trust that God is already drawing near. If your life feels too full for Advent, maybe that’s actually the point. Christ comes anyway.

So how do we “prepare room” when it feels like there’s no room left? Not by adding more to the to-do list, but by paying attention to small things. The way a familiar hymn catches you off guard and makes you feel something. The kindness offered by a friend or a stranger. A moment to pause and reflect in the midst of the busyness.

These moments don’t solve everything, but they help us remember what’s most true: the work of salvation has never depended on our ability to create the perfect setting for it. God comes because God chooses to—not because we’ve made ourselves ready.

So as the world speeds up this month, I hope you’ll listen for the whisper of Advent: slow down, even just for a moment. Notice the holy in the ordinary. Trust that Christ is coming—to you, to this congregation, to our weary world—with light that cannot be extinguished.

We don’t have to have everything sorted out. We don’t have to have a perfect season. We only need to make a little space in our hearts, right in the middle of all the fullness, and discover that God is already there.

With hope and love,  

Pastor Laura

Read the December Chimes HERE.