Daily throughout the Advent season, an inspiring devotional, written by Paradise Valley UMC members, pastors and staff will be posted on the PVUMC website. This year’s theme is “Expecting the Unexpected with Scripture and Song.” The devotions complement the church-wide Advent study based on the book, When God Comes Down by James Harnish, and our Advent sermons on the “Unexpected.”

We go through life generally knowing what will be happening tomorrow, and next week, and in the coming months. When abruptly the unexpected happens, we are shaken to our depths. What is it like when God abruptly interrupts our world? Our response might be like Zechariah, we was left speechless, or like Mary, who responded, “Let it be according to your will.”

Advent is the time to prepare our hearts to hear and receive the gift of God’s intimate relationship with each of us. As Thomas Merton states, “It is not we who choose to awaken ourselves, but God who chooses to awaken us…Our discovery of God is, in a way, God’s discovery of us. We cannot go to heaven to find Him…He comes down from heaven and finds us.”

Every devotional includes a daily scripture reading and a prayer. To receive daily posts, enter your name and email address in the form at the right. To read the devotionals on the blog, click on the post headline in the section below to read the devotional for the day (you may also want to bookmark this page for easy reference). We invite you to share these devotionals with your friends via tweets, email and on your Facebook page. Use the buttons on the left side of the page to easily share. We also invite you to leave comments, especially if there’s a question at the end of the blog post. We hope this will be a way to share our personal Advent experiences and invite others to do the same.

— Kim Summers