WOYWW: Getting Ready

Advent is a time of preparation, of getting ready.  Ready for Jesus' coming; past, present and future. Past, as we celebrate His birth this Christmas; present, as we become aware of how he comes to us everyday or prepare for when we finally meet Him face to face, and future, when he comes again in glory.

My desk is also getting ready!  All is clear and it looks like the calm before the storm (by the way, the big storm Hagupit - which is a Tagalog word for a beating - did not pass our way.)  I am getting ready to do some gift wrapping and since there was no space on my desk, I just had to tidy up.

For my prayer journal illustration, I have a drawing of Jesus' Mother Mary, my favorite painting subject and a lovely quote from Pope Francis...

"The mystery of this girl from Nazareth, who is in the heart of God, is not estranged from us. She is not there and we over here. No, we are connected. Indeed, God rests his loving gaze on every man and every woman! By name and surname. His gaze of love is on every one of us. The Apostle Paul states that God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph 1:4). We too, from all time, were chosen by God to live a holy life, free of sin. It is a plan of love that God renews every time we come to him..."  

Like Mary, "let us also recognize our truest destiny, our deepest vocation: to be loved, to be transformed by love, to be transformed by the beauty of God."

Linking up with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, Word Art Wednesday and Inspire Me Monday.