All the photos in this piece are generously provided by Photographer/Writer Gary Fultz, Unsplash.

Early on in my writing days, God sent along two women, a poet named Sarah and a painter named Lynn, to accompany me as I wrote in a safe little place. To me, they were my Joy and Peace because any time I saw their names that’s what I felt.

My blog back in 2015, called Not According to Plan, was where I moved after I moved out of the blog space I’d been since 2013 called Sundays with Dad and before I moved into my website in 2017.

Since then, so many wonderful companions have joined me along the way–like Gary Fultz who captured these incredible photos. It’s been the way to deeper understanding of the heights and depths of God’s love for each of us.

Seasons change, I change, my companions change. But God never changes. And we’re made in His Image. Do you find that interesting?

I do.

But our ever-changing selves made by a never-changing God makes perfect sense when one realizes that He sends the perfect companions to help us along the way.

As I go back and peruse the pieces I’ve written since my first Advent Calendar in 2017, I find Sarah’s and Lynn’s feedback all throughout. I realize how present and how important they have been to me. It always caught me by surprise, their unexpected encouragement when I needed it most.

As time has moved on so have they, but God has sent new companions along the way. As my work grows so do my companions…you know who you are. There are too many of you to mention by name, and I do fear forgetting someone if I were to try. God, our great connector, is in us and that’s what’s most important.

Love is the constant, but I’m amazed at how much things have changed. And how much the world has changed.

For example, my husband has been looking for a car for our son ever since he was hit from behind on his way to work one morning. His car was totaled. Todd is amazed at how fast and furiously what he finds sells. There is no time to do one’s “due diligence”. The car is available when you make the trek to check it out, and gone before you make your way back home.

It’s no longer about just needing a car to drive, the internet has made buying and selling cars into a commodity. The time or two Todd has made a purchase on good faith alone, it hasn’t turned out too well.

And yet, I can see how God uses it all. Nothing is wasted.

Love and trust had let Todd and Charlie both down in their first families, and second families as a step child and step parent can be hard. But it’s a beautiful thing to behold. Their love. It’s been an opportunity for my son to see Todd’s faithful pursuit on his behalf. I’ve watched their love and trust grow.

All this to say, I see God working in the small things, even in the irritating small things, turning them into the best things.

I think of the book, “Hinds’ Feet on High Places” and the longing to be led into deeper love that takes us to greater heights of God’s Love.

Much-Afraid, who walks with a limp, has two companions on her journey, Sorrow and Suffering. They traverse through her fears and the dangers surrounding her as the loving Shepherd is ever-watching over her. Even when she feels alone—especially when she feels alone— he’s there, just as he is with us.

This past week, I found myself with such a fury of emotions rising up. I wanted to bar the gates of my heart, just as I wanted Much-Afraid to bar hers from Craven Fear and the family of Fearlings. I want to follow my Shepherd to the high places. I want Him to guide me. When I lose my sense of peace I lose my sight of him. “Please send a rope, Lord!” I cry out, “My hope is waning, I’m slipping!”

In a bad snowstorm, even for a short distance, we might need a rope to make it through.

And like a rope, the Word came to me, saying that just as God led the Israelites out of Egypt, He leads us. Just as they were sacred to Him, so are we.

“Yet I am always with you; you hold Me by My right hand.” (Psalm 73:23) What could be more assuring (for a writer)?

So, I guess what I wanted to say today is this: May this Advent Season take us to the High Places of God’s Love, where Joy embraces Sorrow and Peace embraces Suffering. And Much Afraid becomes Grace and Glory…

“When one experiences the shoots of new growth and a gentler peace and a release of trying to prove I’m someone special, and quietly lets God refinish remaking the masterpiece He has in mind for me—there is hope! When we get a peek at His plan, we get excited. His plans are perfect.” ~Nancy Erickson (Peace 2023)

Maybe advent is a longer, more time-encompassing season than we realize. It’s defined by dates, true, and observed fresh every year. But the virtues of advent – hope, love, joy, and peace – shine brightest in dark, uncertain times and reveal themselves in unexpected places. The word itself means ‘to come to.’ So it’s a journey far more than just a destination. Keep writing. I think you already have exactly what you need most. ~Debbie Burdick (Joy 2023)

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:12-13)

Thank you Nancy Erickson, Debbie Burdick, Gary Fultz and each of you, my special friends, you make writing and life a joy! ❤️❤️❤️