Now that we’re in the middle of December, most of us are running around with long lists and busy plans and random dots of glitter speckling our cheeks which came from the many sparkly cards and ornaments lying around the house. It’s my favorite time of year, but with all the glittery rigamarole of the season, I have to remind myself of why I’m actually counting down the days until Christmas.

When I was growing up, my mother would hang up our Christmas stockings on December 1st. Ahead of time, she would fill each one with twenty-four items taped to twenty-four ribbons. Each ribbon was numbered 1-24, representing the days of December leading up to Christmas Day. We didn’t use the language of Advent, but that was kind of what we were doing. On December 1st, we would pull out the string with the number “one” on it. At the other end of the string, we would find a stick of gum, a tiny candy cane, a holiday pencil, a sticker, or a tube of chapstick. Even though the things we would pull out were fairly commonplace, we understood the effort and love behind the preparation. I knew exactly where she kept the sugar-free gum—in the basket by the microwave—and I could have chewed a piece whenever I wanted but knowing that my mom stayed up late November 30th to tape and cut and stuff made the whole experience special.

Now that I’m older, I understand more about this tradition of Advent, and how it goes deeper than just anticipating presents on Christmas morning. It’s about living a life of hopeful expectation. The word advent comes from Latin word meaning “coming” or “arrival.” We see a version of the word pop up in the New Testament and not just about the birth of Jesus, as glorious as that was. The Apostle Stephen talked about this predicted coming before he was stoned for his testimony. Jesus spoke about his own return and how he would arrive “as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west.” And Paul directed the believers to this promise of Christ’s arrival to encourage them in the dark days of their persecution.

Traditionally, the Advent season is divided into four weeks where we emphasize the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love—four gifts we can never give or get too much of. Living in a time between Christ’s comings—what some call the “Already and Not Yet”—it’s a time of waiting for something good, but it’s not supposed to be only a passive time. Though we have to live in a broken version of the creation God made for us, we aren’t meant to wallow in sorrow and despair. We’re given opportunities to joyfully help others, to show them love, to act as peacemakers, and to tell them our reason for hope, a hope which the prophet Isaiah described in this way: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”