Series: Wonder
December 14, 2025 | Rev. Nicole Caldwell-Gross
This Advent season invites us into wonder - yet wonder often leads us somewhere deeper: acceptance. In recent weeks, shifting weather patterns have disrupted our carefully laid plans. Meetings have been postponed, deadlines rearranged, events reshaped. We’ve checked our calendars only to discover that nature has rewritten them for us.
But these interruptions carry a quiet wisdom. They remind us that life, like the weather, is not always predictable. There are moments in our faith journey when all we can do is accept. Not resignation—but holy surrender. A laying down of what we cannot control so that God may lift up what we cannot yet see.
Advent is the perfect season for this surrender. We wait for Christ’s coming with hope, but also with the humility to admit that God’s timing, God’s movement, and God’s way often arrive differently than we expect. The shepherds were surprised. Mary and Joseph were redirected. The wise men were rerouted. Every story of Christ’s arrival begins with wonder, and then asks for acceptance.
So what is God calling you to surrender?
A burden too heavy?
A timeline too rigid?
A worry that has carved out space in your spirit?
Acceptance doesn’t mean giving up—it means opening up. It means trusting that God is already at work, even in the disruptions.
Series Information

Advent always begins with a sense of holy anticipation, a stirring in our spirits that God is near, God is moving, and God is doing something new. Advent invites us into Wonder: not the kind that requires answers, but the kind that opens our hearts to possibility, curiosity, and awe. As we head into Advent, may we pause long enough to notice the signs of God’s presence in our own lives: the unexpected encouragement, the moment of quiet joy, the relationships that give us strength. May we receive the invitation to watch, to listen, and to marvel.



