{"id":3435,"date":"2017-12-13T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T23:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/?p=3435"},"modified":"2017-12-13T00:25:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T23:25:48","slug":"2017-advent-hope-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2017\/12\/13\/2017-advent-hope-4\/","title":{"rendered":"2017: Advent Hope #4"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3439\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2017\/12\/13\/2017-advent-hope-4\/blue_flower\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/blue_flower.jpg?fit=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"800,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;FinePix HS28EXR&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1437647401&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;23.9&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.013333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"blue_flower\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/blue_flower.jpg?fit=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/blue_flower.jpg?resize=800%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/blue_flower.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/blue_flower.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/blue_flower.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><br \/>\n(Photo: Lindy Twaddle)<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:24px; font-family:Georgia, serif; border: 15px dotted #2EA50E;padding:4pt; letter-spacing: 4px;width:100%;text-align:center;\"><em>MARY&#8217;S HOPE<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Luke 1:26\u201333  <span style=\"font-weight:normal;font-size:.7em;\">&nbsp;(NRSVA)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><sup>26<\/sup> In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, <sup>27<\/sup> to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin\u2019s name was Mary. <sup>28<\/sup> And he came to her and said, \u2018Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.\u2019 <sup>29<\/sup> But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. <sup>30<\/sup> The angel said to her, \u2018Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. <sup>31<\/sup> And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. <sup>32<\/sup> He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. <sup>33<\/sup> He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.\u2019<\/p>\n<h3>Thought<\/h3>\n<p>Has God ever surprised you with an unexpected gift of hope? Sometimes God\u2019s plans for us surprise us because we have not even formulated a hope. Mary\u2019s unexpected visitor brought her news she was unprepared for and yet that news brought hope to the earth. <\/p>\n<p>The words of an Iona carol come to mind: \u201cGod surprises earth with heaven\/Coming here on Christmas Day.\u201d Allow God to surprise you!<\/p>\n<h3>Poem: <span style=\"color:#2EA50E;\">Mary\u2019s Diary<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><em>Dear Diary, the strangest thing happened today,<br \/>\nI was in my room, I\u2019d just started to pray<br \/>\nWhen from the sky came a blinding light<br \/>\nThere stood an Angel shining bright<br \/>\nI wondered how could this be<br \/>\nAs the Angel spoke to me<br \/>\nHe said \u201cMary be not afraid\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cIn your womb God\u2019s son is laid\u201d<br \/>\nI wasn\u2019t afraid, I was terrified<br \/>\nI was sure the Angel must have lied<br \/>\nI knew I couldn\u2019t be pregnant you see<br \/>\nWhy did this have to happen to me?<br \/>\nBut the Angel promised it was true<br \/>\nMy son would be the King of the Jews<br \/>\nOf all women, God had chosen me<br \/>\nThis child would set his people free<br \/>\nWhat could I say, I couldn\u2019t say no<br \/>\nSo all I said was \u201cLet it be so\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Prayer <\/h3>\n<blockquote><p>Lord God, you so often surprise us. Thank you for the unexpected gifts which bring hope and joy into our lives. Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"my\" style=\"border-width:2px;border-style:dashed;padding:15px 15px 15px 15px;line-height:1.5;border-color:red;font-size:.85em;\">\n<em style=\"color:red;\">XTRA XTRA XTRA<\/em><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/protect-eu.mimecast.com\/s\/1RXKBso499TM?domain=churchofscotland.advent-calendar.net\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Church of Scotland Advent Calendar<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nJourney daily with characters in the Nativity through video, reflection and prayer\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Photo: Lindy Twaddle) &nbsp; MARY&#8217;S HOPE Luke 1:26\u201333 &nbsp;(NRSVA) 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin\u2019s name was Mary. 28 And he came to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2017\/12\/13\/2017-advent-hope-4\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;2017: Advent Hope #4&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,14,63,3],"tags":[96,98],"class_list":["post-3435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-meditation","category-poetry","category-prayer","tag-advent-2017","tag-hope"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2017: Advent Hope #4 - Prayer matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Has God ever surprised you with an unexpected gift of hope? 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Advent in the dark We wait in the darkness, expectantly, longingly, anxiously, thoughtfully. The darkness is our friend.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;reflection&quot;","block_context":{"text":"reflection","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/reflection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/moon_clouds_and_cyprus_trees.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/moon_clouds_and_cyprus_trees.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/moon_clouds_and_cyprus_trees.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/moon_clouds_and_cyprus_trees.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Kim Hurst","author_link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/author\/kimhurst\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/bible\/\" rel=\"category tag\">bible<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/meditation\/\" rel=\"category tag\">meditation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/poetry\/\" rel=\"category tag\">poetry<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/prayer\/\" rel=\"category tag\">prayer<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"(Photo: Lindy Twaddle) &nbsp; MARY&#8217;S HOPE Luke 1:26\u201333 &nbsp;(NRSVA) 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. 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