Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
The holiday season feels like such a beautiful time of year.
People seem full of cheer and perhaps offer a smile and a well wishing of ‘happy holidays’ when they greet you, twinkle lights sparkle on trees through windows of homes and drape elegantly where the light feels warm and inviting, and the spirit of love and joy are the common thread that connect movie marathons, gatherings with friends and family, and festive traditions.
The season is full of magic and wonder and we can feel drawn into the hustle and bustle that makes it feel like we’re swept up in the dance of holiday momentum. The simple act of putting up a Christmas tree quickly turns into baking cookies which turns into hosting a gathering and finding fun holiday events to take part in and, before you know it, Christmas Eve arrives and there can be the thought of `wow, it’s already here!’. How quickly it can seem to slip through our hands as we did it all without being truly present to it all.
In the iconic Christmas song, Joy To The World, we loudly proclaim in the first verse; Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let Earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room, And, Heaven and nature sing!
When singing along to this song during what some might say was prematurely early during the year, I was drawn to the lyrics, ‘Let every heart prepare Him room’. Christmas songs, as you may or may not know, depending how long you’ve been following along here for, have a way of drawing me in. (In fact, a couple years ago, the entire advent soul care yoga series was based on Christmas Hymns!). These lyrics, however, seemed fresh, as if hearing them for the first time. Of course, I was also drawn to the following line, ‘let heaven and nature sing’, but the part about every heart preparing him room was captivating.
What would it look like to prepare Him room?
What does it mean for me, for you, for us as a collective, to intentionally prepare Him room during this advent season?
Is it more than church or Sunday or putting on a playlist of Christmas carols while doing chores around the house?
Is it different from our usual ‘quiet time’?
Would preparing room in my heart for Jesus at this busy time of year look like slowing down, re-orienting my time in a manner that would make me adjust my rhythms of life to accommodate this intention?
Perhaps, we even venture into questions that speak of our hearts; what state is my heart in as I approach this season?
Is my heart open and receptive for the Spirit or is my heart closed off, hurt or broken as the days pass and the season of advent begins?
These are the questions that begin to float around as if the lyrics were the shaking of a snow globe and the questions themselves, the little flakes of snow that shimmer and swirl and demand my attention as they flurry around me, the one standing inside the snow globe unable to escape, but so inescapably present to the snow; the questions that present themselves.
You see, each question, each little snowflake, is an invitation into the season. Every question that arrives, every thought that appears, every feeling that surfaces, is an opportunity for me to sit with God and go, ‘hmm, let’s explore this together’.
And so we will.
You, me and God.
Together, during our 5-week session of Advent Soul Care Yoga, we will explore what it means to prepare room in our hearts for Jesus this season. We will move and breathe and meditate. We will explore and be aware of where we sense an invitation from the Spirit towards more exploration. We will be present. We will physically open our heart-space as we move and we will use that space we create to notice what’s been taking up the space in our hearts, preventing us from truly opening up the intimate space deep within for Jesus to reside this holiday season. We will explore the ways we naturally open ourselves to Jesus during the season and will acknowledge the beautiful ways God made us to be.
We will be honest. We will be aware. We will enjoy being in the loving presence of God and not just being there, but acknowledging this loving presence of God with us. You’ll have moments to speak silently with God and moments to listen. You’ll tune into your body, tune out the rest of the world, and attune your heart to the room being made for Jesus as this season begins to unfold.
It’s going to be a beautiful journey together and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to lay the foundation for a lovely holiday season with you as we enter into the season of advent together and you celebrate the birth of Christ with a heart full of the astounding and everlasting and unfathomable love that Christ has for you.T
o learn more about Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: a 5-week Soul Care Yoga Advent Series, click HERE or image below!
Registration is required so please register soon!
