Welcome to the third week of Advent — and this week’s theme is joy.
Not the loud, forced, Instagram-caption kind. Not the “smile through it” version we’ve all been trained to perform. The real kind.
Joy, I’ve learned, doesn’t ask us to be cheerful on command or pretend we’re okay when we’re not. More often, joy slips in quietly. It shows up in a belly laugh we didn’t see coming. A moment of connection that feels like oxygen. A memory that reminds us we’re still alive and becoming.
Advent teaches us something important about joy: it can sit right next to sorrow. The older I get, the more convinced I am that joy is strongest when it’s honest — when it doesn’t demand anything from us except our presence.
This week, we’re gathering joy in its truest form — unforced, unexpected, and absolutely allowed.
I love this poem called “The Laughing Heart” by Charles Bukowski:
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
My invitation to you is to light a candle — whatever you have, wherever you are — and sit with it quietly for one minute. Then, maybe do one thing that reliably sparks joy in your heart, whatever it is. Play your favorite song or playlist, wear your cozy sweater, have a warm cup in your hand while you sit in your favorite chair. Maybe it’s a walk.
Pause while you’re there, just long enough to notice Jesus meeting you there.
Where is the joy of Christ finding you today? Big or small? And let me remind you of this. The joy of Jesus never asks you to pretend. So just come as you are with your hands open to the possibility of joy.
This season, I created an Advent Guide for my Substack community with rituals, blessings, poems, readings, and journal prompts.
if you’d like access to my full Advent Guide: Gathering the Light – A December Journey of Hope, Peace, Joy & Love, click here to subscribe.
This Advent Guide is not a checklist, a Bible study, or a rigid plan. It’s a companion for December — a month that pulls at our hearts in a hundred directions.
Each week includes:
- A weekly reflection to help you slow down and notice your life with tenderness.
- A poem chosen to stir something true and steady inside you.
- A simple ritual you can do at home — nothing elaborate, just small sacred practices for real women with real weeks.
- A meditation to anchor your heart in the Advent theme of Hope, Peace, Joy, or Love.
- A spiritual reading or blessing (written in a liturgical, nourishing style) to speak light over your days.
- Optional journal prompts for when you want to go a little deeper — gentle, not demanding.
