Home > Love & Grow > Melisa Hawk: At Home Advent Wreath

“Spiritual disciplines” are things we do to stay in love with God and grow in faith.  They can be things we do alone or together; they can be ways to spend time with God or to serve others.  As the people of Sylva First UMC share one of their spiritual disciplines with you each week, we hope it will inspire you to new ways of loving God and growing in faith.

Being a nurse means that often times I have to miss church because I work at the hospital!  Having the Advent wreath at home we can watch church together as a family when I am home.  Together as a family we have talked about the meaning of the candles as we light a new candle each week… finding hope during this very different time of Corona.
I remember the first time that Derrick and I lit the Advent candle in Sunday worship.  It was several years ago and I was sick with complications of fertility treatments.  It meant a lot to me to be reminded to find hope, peace, joy and God’s love in difficult times when we may feel like we have been forgotten.
Now we’ve come full circle to a family of four lighting the candles with the kids each Sunday and discussing  their meanings.  We are finding peace during this time when we are missing doing the things we usually enjoy.  Together we hope for a vaccine, cure, normalcy…  and also remind each other to spread God’s love and find joy in the small things when things are so different these days!!
Each morning before my kids leave for school I tell them to “show God’s love and shine God’s light.” That’s what I feel having the Advent  wreath in our house this Advent season! When we light the candles there is a special glow in the room… and a special peace in my heart…. God’s love and God’s light.