Devotional for the Second Sunday of Advent

“Good King Wenceslas”

“In the Bleak Midwinter” UMH #221

These were my sweet mama’s favorites. She read their lyrics as an offering at the [Stevensville, MT] United Methodist Women’s meeting in December 2013. She was visiting us during our first Advent/Christmas time there. (We had arrived that summer to begin a six-year season with the church family at the Stevensville United Methodist Church in western Montana.) We had no way of knowing that two years later, she would be moving from Texas, to live with us. She spent four years with us, before she passed on to eternal home in May 2019. 

Every December, she reminded us that these were her favorites. I am so grateful we have this recording. In the first Christmas carol, the “good king” demonstrated that, regardless of wealth or rank, people who bless the poor shall themselves find blessing. In the second one, we are reminded that this world is not perfect, unlike the perfection and glory that is heaven. Emmanuel, God with us: He came down to this imperfect world to be with us and to save us. The carol’s final stanza conveys that in “light” of His amazing sacrificial love, we can experience the joy of committing ourselves to God, whole heartedly, "What I can I give him? I can give my heart.” 

I think these two carols were my mama’s favorites because she lived a life of service and sacrificial love. She died two days before her 91st birthday. She had a full life. It was not always easy, but she always delighted in connecting with people, learning their stories, and encouraging them, along the way. She was my role model, my advocate, my champion. She equipped me to become the person I am becoming. I thank God for the gift of her being my mother!

—Belinda A.