EMB EP23 | Between Two Advents

Shannon Scott (00:34) Well, hey everybody, welcome back to the Everything Made Beautiful podcast. I'm so excited to share something special with you today. Earlier this month, we gathered for our Everything Made Christmas Beautiful live event with some of my dear friends. It was an evening filled with meaningful conversation, beautiful music, worship, delicious food, and great community. We dove deep into the theme of living between two advents. reflecting on both the first coming of Christ and the anticipation of his return. It was a powerful night and we captured a portion of it to share with you here on the podcast. I hope that as you listen, you'll feel the same sense of peace, joy and connection we experienced together. May this time be a blessing and encouragement to you as you reflect on the beauty of this season. Enjoy. Everything Made Beautiful (01:28) So I wanna tell you where we're going tonight. And you might have seen this in some of the stuff that we promoted, but this was a stirring in me and sometimes there's a stirring and it doesn't make a lot of sense and then you have a conversation and everything just coalesces and that's what happened with this. And so as we approach the Christmas season, I want us to talk tonight. about the fact that really we are living between two advents, right? So we have the first advent where Jesus came as a baby. He came in human flesh. He was humble. He came to a marginalized town in a marginalized place in that town. The announcement. of his coming was made to a marginalized group of people. There was no pomp, there was no circumstance. I mean, there was a whole angel choir situation happening, but by and large, this was not an entrance that the people looking for the Messiah maybe quite had in mind, and that was the first advent. But there is a second advent coming, where Jesus will not come tiny and cute, where there won't be songs about cattle lowing and him not crying and it's a whole thing. He will come as reigning king with all pomp, circumstance, pageantry, trumpets and whatnot going on, right? But from that first advent to that second advent, we have the in-between. And that is where you and I and the sovereignty of God have taken up residence. And being in between two advents has some things that are real specific to that season for us. When I think about this and as I was thinking about, y'all know I love Christmas and I'm a freak about it and I'm already decorating it's a whole thing, but. Part of the truth of living in the in-between of two advents is that everything isn't always as merry and bright as the songs tell us it is. That isn't always your experience and mine, even in all the frivolity of the Christmas season. I don't know if you, like me, have had Christmas seasons in particular that you were just like, I just don't know that anything could top this. And then you've had other Christmas seasons that could not be over soon enough. It was like, if I take everything down on Christmas day, is that gonna be fine with everybody? Because I just, I need to move out of this season. And when we're living between two Advents, everything is not rosy and merry and bright. Theologians have a fancy phrase for this. They call it the already and the not yet. the already of the first advent and the not yet of the second. So Jesus has already come and conquered sin and death, praise God, right? But he has not yet come and restored all things to reign as king on the earth. So we've got the between of the manger and the majesty, the first coming and the promised return. Recently I taught through the book of Titus in Bible study and Paul sums up this truth across four verses. This is in Titus chapter two verse 11. He says, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope. the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are what? Zealous for good works. This isn't. seems sweet. No, no. Zealous people go after it wholeheartedly. So a people who are zealous for good works. The grace of God has appeared, Paul said. In the Greek, that word is actually epiphany. The grace of God has appeared. The grace of God has not snuck in trying to be unnoticed. When the sky broke open and the angels were like, Don't be afraid, it's because there was something to be afraid of because the grace of God had appeared. It was an epiphany. And Paul says the grace of God has appeared, epiphany. It's brought salvation for all people, but we are also waiting for the second appearing, our glorious hope. So, Charles Spurgeon, who I love to read. said it this way, and sometimes I think, I could say this, and then I think, why would I say it when he already said it and it's way better than what I would have said? So we're gonna listen to him say it, okay? See then where we are. We are compassed about behind and before with the appearance of our Lord. Behind us is our trust, before us is our hope. Behind us is the Son of God in humiliation. Before us is the great God, our savior in his glory. To use an ecclesiastical term, we stand between two what? Epiphanies. The first is the manifestation of the son of God in human flesh in dishonor and weakness. The second is the manifestation of the same son of God in all his power and glory. In what a position then do the saints stand? They have an era all to themselves which begins and ends with the Lord's appearing. We have an era all to ourselves that begins and ends with the Lord's appearing. I loved this. Behind us is our what? And before us is our? And you and I can sit here tonight and nod along and maybe even amen that. But perhaps that graphic would feel a little more accurate if it looked like this. Behind us is our trust. Trouble. before us is our hope. We feel the tension of this every day. Jesus said in John 16, 33, you know it, in this world you will have, but take heart, I have overcome the world. That's a promise, but it's also a paradox, isn't it? We have trouble and we have hope. We have brokenness and we have the assurance of healing. Paul echoes this in Romans 8, 22, when he talks about the whole world groaning, creation itself, waiting for redemption. So the first advent gave us the light shining in the darkness, but the darkness, well, it's still here and it's looming around us. How many of you feel like there's a little more darkness and light right now in this season? You're like, yeah, I know that light is here and I'm sure it'll be here any minute, but right now what I see is darkness. Anybody? Yeah. And that's part of that paradox between two advents. Maybe you're facing a health scare that feels bigger than the joy of the season. Perhaps you're grieving the loss of a loved one and wondering how you're supposed to celebrate when your heart feels shattered. Or it could be that you're in a difficult job or you're dealing with a prodigal child or you're feeling the sting of loneliness as family gatherings highlight who's not around your table. Maybe your marriage is hanging on by a thread or the pregnancy test continues to disappoint. We live in a world that is no longer under the full reign of darkness, but it's not yet fully in the light of Christ's return. It's confusing and it's hard and sometimes it's just plain exhausting, amen. So how do we live in in between? How do we embrace joy? How do we embrace hope? How do we long for our redemption in the same way that that song we just sang about articulates so beautifully? How does everything actually become Christmas beautiful? Well, that's what we're gonna talk about tonight. Because this is actually how scripture says that graphic looks. Behind us is our trust, before us is our hope. In this world you will have trouble, but over the top of that is Jesus who has overcome the world. So we're gonna have a real conversation tonight because we don't ignore struggles, but we also don't let them overshadow hope. And so tonight we have prayed. that this conversation, wherever it goes, would meet you in exactly the way that you need to be met that only your heavenly father knows. I've got some friends with me, and I'm gonna talk about my friends right quick before I bring them up, because there's nothing more uncomfortable than sitting in front of a bunch of people while someone talks about you. And none of them want to be talked about, but it's my podcast, so I can do what I want, okay? You've already heard from my friend, Laura Cooksey, who lent her stunning vocals to this evening with that great band. Laura has been a full-time session singer, worship artist, touring background singer, and featured soloist for over 15 years. She's toured as a worship leader for national conferences that you've heard of. She's also sung background vocals for a lot of people that you've heard of. And here's just a fun fact for you. People that you love sound as good as they do because of all the other people that sing on their records and bring those gorgeous background vocals. Laura is one of them, okay? She's sung for Mandisa, Natalie Grant, Nicole C. Mullen, Matthew West, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant. Her voice can also be heard as a featured soloist in every Disney park worldwide. We have our very own real live Disney princess with us and she lives in Franklin, okay? She's married to Kyle and they have three kids, but you know those people that you just click with? Like you meet them and you're like, yeah, this is gonna work fine. We're gonna be fine. That was how Laura and I were. I would sit in church on Sundays at Church of the City and be so impressed with her voice, but it was when I asked her to lead worship at the table and I began to see her heart and the way that she shepherds in song. that was so stunning. She has such a gift. I was hooked, right? She's the real deal. She's full of wisdom and just the right amount of sass. I am a better person knowing her, and I'm so grateful that she said, let's do it, when I said, so I'm thinking about a Christmas thing. Also with us tonight is my newest friend, Allison Allen. Allison and I met for the first time two years ago at Lisa's Carigma Summit, where Allison taught and performed one of her amazing, dramatic pieces. Now, millions of listeners, and I'm not using hyperbole, millions of listeners, have recently discovered Allison because she is an ongoing presence on Lisa's Backports Theology podcast. But she's actually been inspiring audiences for nearly three decades with her unique blend of biblical teaching and compassionate storytelling. There are not a lot of people who can teach you deep and tell stories with compassion and she does both. This year her newest book and Bible study take you on a holistic journey toward releasing the pressures of performance. I'm just wondering if that hits anyone where they aren't tonight? Anyone? No, nobody struggles with performance? Let's raise our hands. Just kidding. You should get her book, it's here, go buy it at the resource table. But, Allison is married to, in her words, these are not my words, I wanna be very clear about that, a good and handsome man with whom she can joyfully wear heels. She's 5'12", so this is no small feat, okay? Literally 5'12", right? But she can wear heels with Jonathan, and she's also mom to Levi and Luke. Allison has the distinction of being the very first guest on the Everything Made Beautiful podcast, okay? She set the bar really high for everybody that has come behind her, but I want you to know that after we finished that recording, we sat on Zoom. for two hours, hearing each other's stories, and I would just call it sharing sacred space. And when you've shared sacred space with someone, there's something spiritual that knits your hearts together, and that was Allison for me. She is a treasure trove of wisdom. Thank you for doing this, Allison. She is the one who said between two advents, when I was like. don't know, it's something about between stuff and we're down, was then and there and she was like, or we could be poetic and I was like, yeah, yeah, that's way better. And along with Laura and Allison, I want to introduce you to my soul sister, Macy Willis. Macy and I have been friends for over 25 years. I've only lived in Nashville for seven of those years, but Macy has seen me in every season of my soul. And when someone sees you at your highest, and your lowest, at your best and at your worst, and then sticks around, well, you should keep them. And so I'm keeping her. At her invitation, I was invited into a course of study recently to become a certified leadership coach, which I've now completed. But it has been a joy to watch transformation come to people and to teams as a result of Macy's gift for communicating. leadership principles that help people achieve breakthrough. That is a rare gift and she has it. She's a generous friend. She never meets a stranger. She is an extroverted people person and therefore my polar opposite. She's wise and she's willing to tell me what it's like on the other side of me and what people experience of me good and bad. That's a real gift. She's also someone I can travel with, which we've done a ton. And people you can travel with are in a special category, aren't they? Because you cannot travel with just anybody. I love her and I'm excited for you to hear what God has done in her story. Thank you for doing this, Mace. Also with me tonight is my friend Lisa Harper. So many of you like me have been impacted by the way Lisa has stewarded her writing and teaching gift, whether speaking to thousands or podcasting to millions or giving her undivided attention in each and every personal conversation. I have been at what feels like now two billion events with Lisa and she stands and she talks to every single solitary person and is always the last person in the room. In a culture of green rooms and inaccessibility, Lisa has been the most accessible platform person I've ever been around and it's been a real gift and it's because of her humility. Her love for Jesus and the word of God is refreshingly authentic, seasoned, relational and contagious as I know y'all know. Lisa and I met at church one day and then I gained the privilege of getting to help with her Carigma Summit for the last three years. You all need to sign up. and her new venture found Collective this year. As much as I love working with her, and I would legitimately follow her over a cliff and assume it was a great idea, right? Here's what I want you to know about Lisa if you don't know her. She is exactly who you'd hope she'd be. They say don't meet your heroes. So if she's your hero, let me put your mind to rest. She's exactly who you hope she is. She's warm, she's kind, she's also refreshingly frank and generous with her wisdom and counsel. When we are sitting at a meal and she says, here's what you need to do, about anything, I'm like, it was kind of the Lord to come to earth disguised as you in this moment to tell me what to do. And I will now go joyfully obey. Thank you, Lisa, for being here tonight and for your place in my life and my story. And lastly, but not least by any means, is my dear friend, Kristi Knockels. Seenock, this is a delight for me. I'm grateful for our double decades of friendship now. Only Macy has known me longer than you. We are quite the yin and the yang. She is precious, and I am me. No one's ever described me that way. I said recently when Christie was on my podcast that her beautiful songs have been sung over my life long before we were friends in real life. And I know that's true of so many of you. Christie and Nathan and their kids live here in Franklin and they affectionately call their home Keepers Branch. It's a play on their street name, but it also echoes promises found in Psalm 121. The Lord is your keeper. He will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Their hope is that their home will be a sanctuary and a place of rest and creativity for their family as well as all who enter in. Her heart for worship and her devotion to Jesus are inspiring to me and I know they are to many of you as well. Whether she's singing a lullaby, belting out an anthem, hosting her podcast or mentoring worship leaders, Christy's heart is not only to lead people to connect and communicate with God but to learn to live from their true. identity and from hearts that are at rest. Christy, I have watched you be faithfully made in the secret before you were ever on display in the public. And that is why you have had such a long tenure of faithful, faithful service to the kingdom of God. And I'm thrilled that we get to hear from you. All right, so this is how this is gonna work. Okay, I told each of these ladies. Be prepared to share something specific to a season that they have become acquainted with, living between two Advents, okay? But before we get into that, I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, I grew up Southern Baptist, anyone else? Yep, lots. And we didn't talk about Advent. I think we knew about, did y'all talk about it? No. So we didn't talk about Advent, and so then, When I was in contemporary, non-denominational, whatever, whatever, I was like, is this like a culty, new agey, are we allowed to, is this like multi-level marketing? What is advent? And the more I studied it, the more in love with the season of advent I fell. So I've asked, before we just jump in and talk about between two advents, if you're like, So is that the thing where I get the box and then I open the little thing and there's a Hershey's kiss and then the next day there's a Jolly Rancher and I'm waiting for the gold chocolate? I have asked Lisa to just give us a little bit of theological underpinning for Advent so that we're not just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, Advent. I don't actually know what it means or how to use it in a sentence, but for sure we're between two of them. So Lisa, will you help us? Is it candy? What's the deal? You've to your mic. You've already made me wet my pants like twice tonight and they're kind of leather, so I'm going to squeak for the rest of the night. I'm going to go a step further. How many of you did not grow up in a Catholic Episcopalian or Anglican church? Okay, next question is harder. How many of you are over 40? So all of you thought Advent was naughty because that was what was implied. The reason being Advent started in the fourth century. So it started almost a thousand years before the Reformation. So Advent was seen, interestingly enough, when it started, it had very little to do with the incarnation. So we always think of Advent as being about Christmas. That didn't happen until the Middle Ages. Initially, Advent was the 40 days prior to Epiphany, which was January 6th, in the liturgical calendar, and it was really a season of repentance. It a season of fasting and prayer to get their hearts ready for baptism of new believers at Epiphany. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that Advent became really solely focused on the first Advent which is from the Latin word Adventus which means the arrival of Christ and so if you are not Catholic there was this misunderstanding that Advent was Catholic because it happened before the Reformation and really until modern Christianity it was seen as unbiblical so effectively naughty and so grateful that in the last 25 years or so it's become commonplace for people who are Baptist or Pentecostal, I'm Baptistal, all things in between, every stream of the church has begun to realize we actually need to prepare our hearts for Christmas and there's kind of a longing in Advent. It's not all celebratory. As Shannon, I thought it was a love that you brought up Titus. I was going to read that same passage in Titus. I'll just read the one verse that Shannon highlighted from Titus 2, actually. For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope. the appearance of glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Waiting is really the verb of Advent. I like the verb longing. And I learned the posture of Advent as I've pretty much everything in the last 10 years from my daughter Missy. I became a mom through the miracle of adoption the year I turned 50. So I went through menopause and motherhood at the same time. For those of you who thought Advent was naughty, you're gonna hate my next admission and that is that I love Santa. I know that's not very evangelical, but I love Santa. I don't practice Halloween. We have a fall festival. But I just love me some Santa and part of it is probably that I'm 61 and single. I've never been married. So the idea of as a not. petite girl being invited to sit on a large man's lap is just glorious, absolutely glorious, but I'm sorry, Christy. Christy's so holy, I feel terrible to say anything naughty around Christy. It's like, I feel bad, but I really did want to have pictures of Missy with Santa. It's like everybody has a picture with Santa, so thought, know it's not theologically sound or biblically defensible, but I really want a picture of my precious adopted daughter was Santa. so Laura and I brought our kids home. were both adoptive moms just a year apart. And so I booked one of those uber expensive with the Santa with the real beard, like not the paste on beard. And downtown Franklin was more expensive than my mortgage. But I was so excited about this first picture of my daughter. She was four years old when I brought her home, the very first Christmas. And I thought I've got to at least frame it. kind of biblically. So I said, baby, said Santa, because Missy did not celebrate Christmas in Haiti and really had no idea about Christmas. And she was a little alarmed by the large fellas in red velvet. And so I said, baby, Christmas is all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. It's when we celebrate Jesus. coming to earth in the form of a man. It's his birthday. And I said, it's all about Jesus, but Jesus is so kind, he gives us gifts. And so he doesn't have an SUV. And so Santa has a really big car called a sleigh. You know when you're telling your kids something, you realize this is getting further and further away from biblical truth. But I was trying to cover my bases so when she got older she wouldn't be mad that I didn't let her do Santa but she also would say I wasn't deceitful and so all my counseling was coming out in this one conversation. And I said, Santa delivers the presence and because we can see Santa, he's not incarnate, we can tend to celebrate Santa but he's like a cartoon figure. He's like SpongeBob without the naughty mouth. she's like, okay, so I thought I've kind of sufficiently prepared her. We go to Franklin to this. bazillion dollar photo shoot and we had to wait for an hour and we finally go in and they've got you know the snow blowing and the birch trees and the guy with the real beard in a red suit and Missy had a really really strong Creole accent when I brought her home from Haiti and so she said something and he didn't quite understand he looked at me and she said something again and he didn't quite understand And I realized what she was saying to Santa, whom she wasn't sure she wanted to sit on his lap, unlike her mother. She was saying, do you know Jebus? Do you know Jesus? Where's Jesus? You're not the one that I'm excited about. And when I explained to this Santa that my four year old baby girl who wasn't even supposed to live past the age of three longed for Jesus more than she longed for him. He actually began to weep and he said, honey, I do know Jesus. And I thought that's the posture that I wanna emulate every Advent, those 40 days prior to Christmas. I want my heart to be celebratory, but also to long for the second Advent, as well as to recognize part of Advent was the cognizance was that Easter would follow. Christmas. So there's a sobriety in that he had to die the first time. And so I love the Christmas season. Laura helps me every year get prepared in October. But there's a there's a fresh sobriety to go Lord break my heart with the things that break yours give me more longing to see you return. So that's kind of the theological framework of that. Yeah, so good. Laura, I wanna go to you, because we've talked, I set up a little bit that there's a co-mingling of grief and glory that exists in the in-between. So I'd love if you'd just share a little bit about the season you have become acquainted with in the in-between. Yeah, well first of all, you just reminded me, Lisa, that I think you recommended that same bajillion dollar Santa to me the first year that we adopted our kids. But my kids, in fact, did not ask him about Jeebus. They were like, can you give me a hoverboard for Christmas? So don't come to me for parenting advice, Yeah, so I... Christmas is always a mixed bag. Historically for me as an adult, stuff tends to pop off during the Christmas season. Can anybody relate to that? It tends to be the busiest time of year for me. And sometimes I feel like I am going into Thanksgiving and kind of the month of December, like, ooh. walk in the room, don't touch anything, nobody gets hurt, know, just kind of waiting for like what's about to happen. And there have been really difficult Christmas seasons that I have walked through. I've been on the Christmas tour a couple of different years, singing All Is Well in arenas with the symphony behind me when all was not well in my family and in my life. And every time I had to get on the stage and... seeing those words, it was a declaration of faith and a belief, a true deep down belief that where Paul says, know, I know this, that God who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. So several Christmas seasons have been like that for me. Last week, I got to go to Disney World as like the fun cousin with my family. which I highly recommend. I was responsible for no children except for riding rides with them and they thought I was awesome, which was awesome. And then when they got tired and cranky, I was like, okay, go see your mommy and daddy. And it was pretty great. And so I was kinda coming off of a high, like, Lord, that was so fun. I got great family time. And before I could get all the way to baggage claim, I got a call from my husband. And he was quite upset. And he said that his dad had unexpectedly passed away Friday. That was just a couple days ago. And so I was like, Lord, for real? Like, I might have had some words at baggage claim just between the Lord and I. so here we are entering the season of Advent with a very full schedule, with very full lives. And quite frankly, that is just the tip of the iceberg. And we will be adding grief to the mix this year. And I know that that is true for many of you in the room. And I just want to say to that, first of all, we see you, I see you, and more importantly, God sees you. And I think there is no better picture of. the Advent season, we are dealing with difficult things, grief, loss, longing, when we can truly experience the words of Emmanuel, God, with us. And I just want to tell you it's true. He's seen me through so many difficult seasons, and he will see you through. If there is any doubt in your mind, I just want to tell you that he's going to see you through and that Paul's words are true. that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. There may be days when you're like, are you sure? But I just wanna tell you it's true. It's true. So hang in there. How many of you have experienced the loss of a loved one, the loss of a breast or the loss of a relationship this year since last Christmas? Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, the celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come. I so appreciate you saying our Christmas includes grief. Because I think, like you said, in this world you will have trouble if you have not experienced grief. during the Christmas season in between the two advents, yet that just means you still have tight skin and high metabolism. This world has trouble and I think it's amplified at Christmas and I'm so grateful to be among a company of women who are honest about that. Because I used to think I had to have a husband with a matching Christmas sweater and a golden doodle. And I'm just, I'm so grateful for your testimony. And I think the thing I want to yes and amen to what Laura said is I think sometimes we look at grief as the thing we want to get away from. Like, okay, grief is here. Now the whole goal is move on from grief. But grief is actually a gift from God to us because we're not built to weather the trouble that will come between these two advents. without the gift of grief. So mourning and grief are gifts from a loving Heavenly Father who knows that we are dust and who has given us a way to move through, not move past. My dad died in 2018 and I'm not past it, but I now have a new reality that includes the grief that he will not on Christmas morning dance to Harry Connick Jr's It Must Have Been Old Santa Claus before we open presents. Because that's what he did for my whole life. But he won't do that this year and I'm not like over it. It's just there's a gift in grief from our heavenly Father. So if you are acquainted with grief tonight like Laura said. I want to encourage you that there's a gift there to be opened from your heavenly Father, and there are some things that you will only receive in the process of grief that will give you like facets and a diamond of the character of God. There are some of those facets that will only catch the light in grief. and then you will see a side of God you never knew was there. And so I just want to encourage you, and I also want you to know these things that we're going to talk about, we're going to pray over you before we go tonight. And so we're going to ask you if you are acquainted with grief this Christmas, if we can pray over you as well as the other things that we're going to talk about. So just, I want you to know we're not talking at you. I also want to say, I didn't say this at the top, but the point of this is not a podcast recording. The point of this is this room and the Holy Spirit moving in this room. And if any of it is good enough to post, we will. But this is not for a recording. This is what we feel like God's asking us to say to the faces and the souls that are in here. So I just want you to know that's how we've prayed. and approach this. Will you please edit out the part of me longing to sit on large men's laps? I mean, I have some people making some notes, and I would imagine that has made it onto the note. we would probably talk about Spanx at some point, but we went a little further than that. But it's fine. I felt led. I felt deeply led. I feel great about it. Mace, I want to come to you. One thing that I have known in our relationship over these decades now is how difficult the holiday season can sometimes feel for you. You said recently that you became convicted about how you disclaimer yourself in conversations. So I'd love for you to just talk about the season that you are acquainted with, especially at the holidays, and that conviction that you felt and where that has led you. So I'm probably the most un-eloquent speaker up here. They all speak and perform, and I do not. This will be a lot of asking me questions, but yeah, Shannon's right. I do disclaimer myself. I grew up in a fabulous family. mean, best mom and dad ever. They're married 60 years in December. They're 83 and 84, 84 and 85. They have traveled the world, still do. So amazing. My dad was one of 10 South Georgia, so I have a good 100 plus relatives still living. Shannon and I went through Facebook and I showed her about 40 of them on our road trip. So I have amazing traditions, holiday traditions. I have amazing Christmas mornings and loving, godly parents. And so I had amazing dreams. And I really felt like I'd get married and have 10 children, just like my dad had. And that hasn't been my story. And so I prayed often for it and then I quit so all of you can start praying because I'm like, I was laughing with Shannon about it. It is the aftermath of hope, right? It's on the other side that we have to come back around to trust and then hope again. And so I had some people in the coaching organization that I'm with, you we were just having this celebration dinner one night sitting around a porch and. Someone challenged me and said, Macy, I wish you wouldn't disclaimer yourself. And I said, what do you mean by that? And he was like, anytime you meet someone, they start asking you about your life and my life is so nonlinear. If I could even begin to tell you 30 years of life single, what the luxury of singleness has given me in that, it would be amazing. But I do tend to walk up and go, hey, I'm Macy, I've never been married, don't have any kids. And a lot of people will go, you've pursued your career. No, I mean, I don't really have more than 10 years at any one given place, and it goes all over the place. So it is a season for me walking into the holidays. It's for my family. They struggle, because my parents are so loving, and they include me in everything. But then I'm the single child at home with all the 80-year-olds. My brother and sister-in-law, I have two amazing nieces and nephews married. Soon as they hit four or five, Christmas completely changed. And it became their Christmas. And we had parameters put around us for what we could do. And so it's really hard for me to balance. Think three years ago, I made a new choice. And I said, you know what, Lord? If I can't feel hopeful, then let me give back. And so I partnered with organization in Atlanta called Beloved Atlanta. They rescue women out of forced prostitution, domestic violence. I said, I will create Christmas traditions for them. And so took my event planning background and some of my creative side of myself and did that. And giving back and watching them open gifts and decorate their home that they live in and never have decorations helped me see it different. But pain and promise can still exist in the same place. And so they are hard for me. I celebrate marriage, I champion marriage. I've been a bridesmaid 17 times. I am, and I don't meet any strangers. People are my cocaine. I love airplanes. You better hope you're not sitting next to me tomorrow morning, because you will get an earful. But yeah, this season is not my easiest season. So I try to celebrate with people. You know, first of all, thank you for sharing that. don't hear a lot of people share. about singleness, especially, this is gonna be my personal opinion and this is not about any one church, just disclaimer. But I don't think we as the church do a great job of serving people who have never been married and are not in their 20s. Because everything seems like the, the waiting room until you get to the final destination of marriage and kids. And so it's like come to our singles thing and it's a meat market, you know, and you're like, no, thank you. I'm not trying to speed date at church. And I just, I still think, I just still think we haven't cracked the code on that. Now I'm not single, so that's real easy for me to be like, I don't think we've cracked the code. How would I know? But. I have a lot of single people in my life who say we haven't. So that's what I'm taking it on. I would love to know for just on behalf of people who have never been married, because you also have told me if you find yourselves in a singles group, it's people who are single again. It's rarely people who have never been married. What are some of the most unhelpful things that people say? wow. If you're on LinkedIn, I wrote about this, so go look at it. Well, first of all, I should say one thing is invite your single friends. We don't need you to. We want you to. And I think we use the word need as an excuse in the world today. We can want and long for. So I'm going to assume. not to break your family tradition and that I would be entering into the egg codlers on Christmas morning because that's the only time we ever eat them moment and I don't want to do that and so a lot of friends. you go back to the what's on the what now? Yes, so my parents they got married December 27th and their first holiday over the summer after they got married was to go see some friends that were in the Air Force and they went overseas to Europe. and they have egg codlers. They're little porcelain cups that have like real pretty flowers and stuff with a silver lid and you crack an egg, you butter the whole thing. Then you crack an egg, then you put cheese, and you put bacon, crack an egg, cheese, bacon. And then you screw the lid on and you put it in boiling water and then you eat with these little tiny spoons. And so with these egg codlers. I will come to your house at any time if you make that for me. I just heard bacon, bacon, bacon. Yeah, I'm hungry. She had me at bacon. Yeah. And there's little ones. So there's one egg, two egg, three eggs. Who wants one egg? I mean, come on. So my family tradition is for my parents. Now, since I'm fifty five years old, I've eaten egg coddlers only on Christmas morning. And so we all have egg coddlers that have been passed down. Who knew what that was? Raise your hand if you knew what an egg coddler was. Yes, thank you, European friends. Four people! That is so fun. I mean, that's a Christmas tradition that somebody else would be entering into. So, invite your friends. I mean, that's one thing I would say. I just had the pleasure of going on a 40th birthday trip with four couples to Cancun, and the amazing thing was the husband invited me because they don't see me as the single friend. They see me as a sister in Christ who loves his wife and has spent life with her. And so I'm okay to go to a hotel room by myself. Listen, I've lived 30 something years by myself in a barn, a log cabin, a loft, and all sorts of places. But just ask your friends. Don't assume that they're not. Don't ask them, really, you're so great. I mean, why aren't you married? Well, do you think I'm God? Like, seriously right now? Like... I mean, I don't know. It's like you're asking me, do I have a problem? Yes, I have a disease or I've got leprosy or, know, well, have you ever dated anyone? I'm like, yes, I have dated a lot of, you're just too picky. So don't disclaimer. Y'all, are the worst. Anybody out there single living with what I'm talking about, yell it out if you've got something else. But it is that we don't. I can tell you I think the church and several people in our Christian world in a couple of 20 years ago Did us an injustice because we became best friends with all of our guy friends and then we just became unhealthy attached Emotionally and really not dateable until they went and found the other people and you turn around going why was our best friends with all those guys? This has got to stop and some of the other people wore tube tops Yes. Just saying. I not Christie, not Christie. I will say this to you as a much older, I'm six years older than Macy's single, if one more 20 or 30 something year old woman says when I learn to seek Jesus more, he'll bring my husband, I'm punching him in the throat. I'll punch him in the throat for you right now. I'm keeping that in because that's a good word. Mace, I'd love for you just quickly to talk about one more thing that you and I have talked about. You are a people person. You're around people all the time. It's not for lack of people, but you have talked before about it is so possible to be surrounded by people and incredibly lonely. So just talk a little bit about that. Yeah, it's interesting because I actually had a boss when I worked for State Farm to say to me I was in my 20s and I was talking this whole alone and loneliness and even if you're married and maybe you've got strife in a marriage, you're not alone, but you're lonely. And so I have thousands of friends. I am a true connector because I have over 4,000 contacts in my phone. But. I can be sitting in a space with lots of people. I can pick up the phone and call anyone at any time and have friends around. But there's lonely seasons. And I'm a very visual person. The Lord gives me like pictures. And so sometimes I just need him to be visible for me. And I crave that. And so that alone and lonely. is a very distinct, there's a distinction there that you have to recognize. Just because you're absent people, you might be fine. You can be full of people and still very lonely. Would you guys say yes and amen to that? I have experienced that and I think it's a misnomer to think, well, only single people are lonely. You can be married with a house full of littles and be very, very lonely. I just think it's important to say that out loud. Our culture doesn't say that a lot, especially around the holidays when everything is like click, picture perfect. And that doesn't always tell the full story. Kristi, I don't really know how you're gonna follow tube tops and whatnot, but. She's mine, she's not on Yeah, this is going to be the precious and The back to the Bible testimony. Yes, yes. But you have written and sung extensively about this concept, but I also know that you have recently experienced a very different kind of season between two advents. So I'd love for you to just share what you feel like God's put on your heart, because I know what it is, and I cannot wait. Well, first of all, you're not going to like this, but can I just say I'm really proud of you. Can we just say we're proud of Shannon? And it's our joy to support you tonight and to show up for this. So sweet. Thank You've shown up for us countless times. And this right here is like worth the price of admission. I took mine because I didn't want someone else to take it. But I love you and I'm so proud of you. And we're all celebrating tonight that we you've just you've loved us all well. so thank you. Yes, coming up on the year mark of losing my mama, November 22nd, she went to be with Jesus just about an hour before Thanksgiving Day, which was C.S. Lewis's, I think it was his, 60th when he went home. And we kept whispering to her like, Mom, they're probably having a pretty big party up there. But, I got to share at her homecoming celebration. And it was so sweet, I'll never forget. My son, who's 24, was just sitting, I was in our piano room and he was playing the piano as I just sat down to just write what I would say. I knew I couldn't just off the cuff speak. I needed to write it down. And it just came so quickly. I thought about the legacy of her life and I think about the legacy of your lives. And I thought of her life like a strand of pearls. And I thought, you know, I'll be finding those pearls for years to come and just almost that add a pearl type necklace. And I thought about those necklaces, the pearl necklace that has like the three big pearls in the middle and they kind of get smaller as you go up. And the Lord just quickly gave me the three just pearls of her legacy and they were, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And the second one was, see the needs of others and respond. Can't tell you how many little mission trips I went on with her just going to give groceries to a single mama or making an Easter dress for a little girl in our church. And the third one is suffer well for the glory of God. And I'll never forget the day she called me to tell me that the cancer diagnosis was real and. And almost just without even stopping, she said, but I was reading this morning Psalm 118, 24, says, this is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. And that sounds like such a simple verse until it's a day that includes a cancer diagnosis. And she said, I'm gonna choose to rejoice. She said, My father loves me. And she said, he's known the number of my days since before one of them came to be. And she said, I just want you to know I trust him. And I know that he loves me. And we're going to choose to rejoice. And I thought about, this is a woman who. Talk about just living from a place of rest, just a posture of being the beloved, being a beloved daughter and resting in what her father had for her. And I thought about just my own. legacy of course and just any time I've had the opportunity to get to suffer well, whether that's just for my family who has seen In Secret or if that's the times I've gotten to share about it, I've thought about this beautiful, you know, between two admins and how we can have breakthrough. even in suffering because Jesus broke through for us. He already broke through. And when I think about breakthrough, I can't help but think about blooming. And I know some of you have heard me share this story before, but I think back on just seasons of suffering and. I think about one where my sister-in-law, sweet Kristen, for my birthday one year, I was just in a winter of my soul and I was suffering. she bought me this... I unwrapped it and it was just this little white pot and it had dirt in it and a little tiny little spring sticking up. And I was kind of like, thanks. I didn't know what it was. But of course it had this beautiful letter that she wrote and talked about what it looks like. to not let suffering sideline us. I think sometimes we're in the middle of it and we're scrolling on social media. It's so easy for us to just think like everyone's out there just killing it. And some of us, know, we might be... going through like a physical ailment where you can't even rise to do the basics. mean, or maybe it's just you're feeling like because you're going through this, you don't have the authority to speak on whatever it is and we can let it sideline us. But she encouraged me to be like the Amaryllis that was down in that pot that she gave me, the Amaryllis bulb, to learn to bloom. in the bitterness of winter and what it might look like to break through the hardness of the soil and bloom even in winter. And I ended up writing a song, you know, I to write down the lyrics because you don't remember any of your lyrics. It's really sad. Shannon has to tell me either songs that I've sung on in the past or my own lyrics that I forget. You know, those songs that you have heard Christie saying, and you're like, that song met me and I'm like, well, I just want you to know she doesn't remember it. So that was precious for you. And I'm like, you know, it goes, she's like, yeah. I have to ask, are you going to sing acapella for us? Because that's what we're hoping. Maybe towards the end, I don't know. But yes, there were those 400 years of silence and then his love broke through. And I was thinking about that as I just sat down to write this song for a Christmas record that we ended up making a few years after I got that Amaryllis bulb. And it kind of just, you I didn't really know at first how to start the song, but I couldn't help but think of Jesus and how he came in the winter. of the world and that his love broke through. And I wrote this, talk about a winter the world had never known. Talk about a silence that hardened up the soil. No more life left in Eden, but you knew the time would come. Because you were growing up a family that you would call your own. And through a fragile people, the light of life would come. When it seemed like we'd never see spring, heaven gave a king. Like an amaryllis blooming at Christmas, when everything was cold and dark, your love broke through and you shined. With the brilliance of summer right in the middle of winter, you came surprising the night like a Christmas amaryllis. So here I am waiting. in a winter of my own. If it's gonna be this cold here, why couldn't it just snow? Well, at least I could say through the pain that it's somehow beautiful. And everybody knows that the time to bloom is spring. Yet you're asking me to break through the hardness of this freeze. But you say that you're with me and I can make it through anything. And the bridge says, there are the rare and beautiful treasures that grow when it's coldest, when nobody's watching. Sending a message to a sleeping world that you are here with us now, and you are making all things new again. Does anybody feel like they're in a winter season and they're just not sure when it's going to break through? That's your hope tonight that God created a flower that blooms when it's coldest, bleakest, most bitter, darkest, you know, the unideal time. And it's a stunning, stunning bloom. And so I just want to say, if you're in a season of winter, winter seasons seem like all is dead. But when something that we can see dies, plants, flowers, foliage, whatever it may be, immediately beneath the surface, millions and millions of microorganisms go to work. because God has created it so that they are readying the soil for spring. It isn't everything dies and it's dead. It is the things you see die so that the things you can't see can be formed and ready to break through in spring. So if you feel that you're in a winter season, just know there's so much happening beneath the surface. There's so much going on that you can't see. And God has not gone, well, she's in winter. He's in winter. Instead, he's gone. What was seen has now gone away so that what is unseen can be formed and readied for spring when it will be seen again. So I hope you feel encouraged by that. Thank you for sharing that. You said you were going to sing toward the end and you didn't, but whatever. That's fine. Guys, it's really hard to find good help for these things, you know what saying? I feel weepy. It started with you leading, Laura. So I was having crocodile tears. Exactly. Allison. Do you want me to sing? You know, unfortunately, we are out of time. You know, we all have our gifts. Allison. Yes ma'am. I'm really, really thrilled that everyone is going to get to experience what they're going to get to experience with you. Allison has written something that she is going to read over us in just a minute. But before we get there, I'd just love for you to talk a little bit about what season you have become acquainted with between two advents. goodness. Also, thank you for saying between two advents when I was like, it's liminal space. Liminal space. Yeah. isn't as pretty in script as this is. So. I think for me personally, this has been a real season of transition. And I think it's sometimes a difficult thing to stand in a space of transition during the Christmas season. I often I'll just. be really transparent here. Often when I hear people talk about decorating or chefing or the busyness of the season, I just feel like I am remedial in all things Christmas. It's not that natural for me. And so my heart is just tender toward anyone that is in a season of transition, know, in the child birthing process. As the baby is about to come forth, there is this thing called transition in the body. And what the nurse will always say is when you're in transition, don't push. Don't push. And so I don't know if there's someone in this room that's feeling like I'm in the liminal space. I'm neither here nor there. And for me, all things Christmas are a little bit difficult. I'm in transition, I think. the Lord is whispering to my heart and maybe he's whispering to yours, just don't push. Just stand still. Wait on me. Watch for me because I'm in that space. One of the stories that's just been kind of rolling around the bottom of my heart as I've heard all these gorgeous stories up here is something that happened probably, goodness, I don't know, maybe 15 years ago or so. I was trying my best to really be a Martha Stewart and decorate my Christmas tree well. And as I've already let you know, I struggle with that. And so we'd gotten the perfect Christmas tree and I had done my level headed best to decorate it beautifully. The thing that I didn't realize was that I decorated it in a way that the entirety of the Christmas tree was top heavy. And so my son Levi was young. happened to be upstairs. I was very proud of this Christmas tree until I heard the world's loudest crash. And so I flew down the stairs and y'all it was like it was Christmas tree carnage. There were broken ornaments, broken glass, pine needles everywhere, water all over the floor. My grandmother's heirloom Christmas skirt was like bleeding out on the floor. And so I took it in but The carnage was nothing compared to the sounds that were coming from the corner from Levi. And this is what he kept saying over and over again. He kept saying, it can't be fixed. It can't be fixed. And he was sobbing, and then he was snubbing. And y'all, I went to him and I tried everything. I tried bribery. I tried all the things to tell him that it could be fixed. And then finally, I looked at him and I said, Levi, it can be fixed. when your father comes home. And we had to wait for Jonathan to come home. And so I think a lot of us, maybe some of us in the room are living in Christmas that looks like that. That shattered and messy and nothing like what we could dream. I just wanna say just wait. Wait on the Lord. He's coming and things won't be perfect. They won't necessarily be. beautiful, but he and his very presence will make something of that ash. He will make something of that broken glass to the praise of his glory. So just wait, wait on the Lord. I say wait on the Lord. You know, the concept of waiting, like, it's like, yeah, let's wait. That's great. And I think it's like, That's all well and good until it prolongs. So what would you say to people who are like, yeah, I did the waiting thing, so thanks for that. And now I'm still waiting. know, Christie's singing Waiting Here for You, and I don't want to wait anymore. what do I, by the way, I have to say this really quick. When Christie and I were at another church together and our our youngest daughters were both four and I was leading the children's ministry there. It was when Waiting Here For You had come out and it was just a smash. And I was with our daughters in preschool and my daughter Allie and Chrissy's daughter Annie were standing at the baby gates at the four-year-old preschool classroom. And Casey, who many of you know, she was up here asking y'all to scoot in. She was walking around with our Goldfish allotment for the day, okay? So we were feeding all our little preschoolers with Goldfish. And we walked up to that gate with my daughter and Christie's daughter standing there with their little chins on the gate and Christie's daughter goes, waiting here for food. So I want to tell you that when we sing Waiting Here for You in church that I'm very spiritual about it. But I am thinking of Annie Rose, who will graduate from high school this year with my daughter. They will graduate together singing Waiting Here for Food. Before you move on, I'd love to say something about that middle space also is thinking about when we sit in that no longer a not yet space, we tend to want to work our way out. and and that's where God's most creative. That's when we really see the fullness of who he is. And even there might be waiting, but that moment that I want to stick my hands in and get myself to that next step. normally is when I should pull back. And so just remembering he's so creative. so give him, like allow him to be, blow you away with the creativeness to the not yet that you'll get to. Yeah, I think all of us are probably in some season of waiting in some area of our lives. Even if it's, For me, sometimes I sit and I'm in Scripture and I'm like, Lord, I want that love for Your Word that like I don't want anything besides this. And I want that and I'm waiting for that. Like even if it's in areas of spiritual disciplines or whether it's, you know, weight loss or fitness or a sleep schedule or whatever you're waiting for, there's also a gift in waiting. similar to a gift in grief that just doesn't, we are a very instant gratification culture and it's only getting worse. We have to wait for almost nothing these days, but there is a holiness and a sacredness about waiting on the Lord that reaps benefit in us that just does not come another way. So one thing that I want us to do is Allison, if you would be willing. Allison has written a piece about Elizabeth in scripture around the waiting and what that is like. So what we're gonna do right now is I want you to sit under this with Allison, but then we're gonna come back up and I would just ask you don't leave yet because. You talked about that transition stage in childbirth, but I think we're in this moment in the room where as I'm looking at your countenances and I'm watching your faces, there is some beauty in intercession and we would like to intercede for you. And yes, I'm talking to you, whoever you are. And there's something about a body of believers interceding for one another. So when Allison finishes, I'm gonna come back up, we're all gonna come back up, and we're just gonna take a few minutes to pray over you. So I wanna give you that as preparation time, because we're gonna ask you to be courageous and be vulnerable in the moments coming up. because we want to intercede for you and ask the Holy Spirit to meet you in a really special way. So, Allison, would you share with us and give us some preparation space and then we will come back up. Yes, ma'am, I would be delighted to. One of the things that's always struck me so intensely about Elizabeth's story is that the delay of her miracle was confirmation of Mary's. And so sometimes we wait in our own lives and we question the delay and we question that waiting period, not understanding that the Lord is always doing innumerable things. He's never doing just one thing. But one of the things I think he's doing in those seasons of waiting is that sometimes our wait is the confirmation for someone else's miracle along the way as it was. for Mary through Elizabeth's life. This is called Woven in the Weight, and this is a narrative from Elizabeth's mouth as I imagine it. I'm called Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah, mother of John. My beloved Zachariah has been long gone from the earth and I will not live to see my only son John break upon the age of his full-throated adulthood. Though I know in my heart of hearts, he is the forerunner of the Messiah. My son's speech will break the silence once for all. I remember my marriage to Zachariah, course, the sound, the celebration like a war horns, an ending blast, piercing, peeling. It was a world of firsts. Ours was an arranged love match. In these things, usually the head outruns the heart. In our case, each kept pace with the other. Both of Aaron's tribe, we understood rightly that our lives would be rounded by service to Adonai. and Adenized people. If there is a better way to round the corners of a life, say it now. Even though I am aged, I still am given to a good argument when warranted. And the things of God warrant it. I remember the first year after we wed, my hope for a child, a child with Zachariah's voice as deep as earth or mine, as high as the clouds, when thrilled, was deferred. I thought my empty belly was caused by agitation. I was, after all, a newlywed wife too enraptured with true love, many said. Singing too many songs, many said. Full of too much of the music of matrimony to conceive, so many said. When each month presented another disappointed, not yet. Not yet, my boy. I began to tell myself another story. Perhaps the Almighty was testing me, if so I would be found faithful. Perhaps the Almighty was tempering me, if so I would be tempered. Perhaps upon perhaps, upon perhaps. Until I began to believe that the Almighty had soured upon me. Finally, I no longer tried to form an equation whereby I could figure the math of the Almighty. Instead, I grieved. I wept from my weighted soul which grew heavier with each passing month. When I was never surprised, when the flows never ceased, when no loss of appetite came and no first flushes of, think we may be with child. Coriah, God has finally removed from us our shame. I never spoke such words to my husband like so many of my sister friends spoke to theirs. Those sounds were others to make. I was savaged by it. The savaging of sound. Come quickly, lay as time is near, wake the midwife, the baby comes. I wanted to plug my ears from the sound of others rejoicing. Their legacy would not end. Their good news driving some hidden place in me further from the goodness of God. I am not proud of it. Zachariah tried, he tried as husbands try. His words during this time bubbled like froth, encouragement, prayers, admonishments, cajoling me, cradling me, covering me. So many sounds, too many sounds. But not the sounds I hoped for. Never a baby's cry. Never those. And yet, God is never as done as we might think. What we think only to be the end is often a beginning in disguise. One normal day, Ruth burst into my home shrieking that something was wrong with Zachariah, that my Beloved was seen waving his hands madly after burning incense in the temple. I ran as best as old women do, thinking my heart, his mind, must have finally failed him. When I arrived, Zachariah was not dead, he was not dying. He looked for all the world like he had seen a ghost, an angel even. All the people around him were haranguing and hollering visibly. Frustrated, he raised his hands to quiet the crowd, opened his mouth to speak. and then nothing. The sound of silence. We walked home, just that quiet. And once there, Zachariah wrote upon a scrap of parchment what had been told to him by the angel, such words that when I read them, I gasped. And then nothing. My words dried up too. In our silence, we were twins, Zachariah and me. When the Almighty breaks into such an ordinary world in such an extraordinary way, what else is there to say? Silent nights, silent days. I learned in the waiting that sometimes miracles come slow. Sometimes miracles grow in the shade. Sometimes miracles are knit together in the secret place, woven in the waiting. When he came, my John, I named him God my grace. His babies cries, music to my aged ears. He would say, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is coming. He is coming. The coming one is coming. And my John, My very slow miracle will be the voice to announce him shattering the silence once and for all. Shannon Scott (1:22:48) So as we wrap up today's episode, I want to take a moment to reflect on the beautiful reminder that we heard about living between two Advents from each of our panelists. In this season, we're invited to both look back with gratitude for the first coming of Christ and look ahead with hopeful anticipation for his return. It's a time to embrace the tension of waiting, trusting that God is always at work in the in-between moments. My prayer is that each of us can engage more deeply with this Advent season, sitting in the quiet, reflecting on God's faithfulness and embracing the beauty that is found in the waiting. Now, as I've shared before, I truly believe in the power of rest. And after 23 straight weeks of podcasts, I'm going to practice what I preach. I'm going to pause the podcast for the remainder of the year so that I can rest, recharge and prepare for the exciting things ahead in the new season. The podcast will return on January 6th, and I can't wait to be back with you then. Thank you so, so much for your support and for listening. Your encouragement means the world to me truly. As we head into this Christmas season, I leave you with this. Everything is being made beautiful in the quiet, in the waiting, and in the coming of Christ one day to make everything right. May you experience the beauty of his presence in this season and may it fill your hearts with peace and joy. Merry Christmas and I will see you in the new year.