{"product_id":"honest-advent-awakening-to-the-wonder-of-god-with-us-then-here-and-now-575761","title":"Honest Advent: Awakening to the Wonder of God-With-Us Then, Here, and Now","description":"**For those who are looking for something honest, something real, something with a little more human grit to it and a little less conventional red and green: *Honest Advent* offers a new kind of devotional.**\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For too many of us, Christmas has lost its wonder. Maybe for you, the joy of the season is painfully dissonant with the hard edges of life right now. Or maybe you feel wearied by the way Christmas has become a polished, predictable brand. Or maybe this sacred story feels too far removed from our world today, a world that's hard to make sense of.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But what if the Christmas story is not just something that happened a long time ago ... but a story that is still happening today? *Honest Advent: Awakening to the Wonder of God-With-Us Then, Here, and Now* illuminates the astonishing, hope-filled truth that the God who showed up in the hardest parts of our humanity *is still doing so today.*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From celebrated artist-storyteller Scott Erickson: 25 days of heart-stirring images and thought-provoking meditations to rekindle the wonder of God-with-us in this season. *Honest Advent* creates a space for you to encounter the Incarnate Christ in unexpected places: like a pregnancy announcement in an era of political unrest and empirical bloodshed, the morning sickness of a Middle Eastern teenager, and the shocking biology of birth that goes far beyond the sanitized brand of Christmas as we know it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Then, through powerful benedictions, prayers, and questions for honest reflection, you will discover how the wonder of God-with-us is still happening today: in your unexpected change of plans, your unaccomplished dreams, your overcrowded lodging, your humble stories of new beginnings. In a world that's difficult to make sense of, and a season that's so often overtaken by consumerism, find here fresh eyes to see this powerfully sacred story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Jesus appeared in a way *no one* expected: incarnating by way of human vulnerability. He does the exact same thing in our lives today: bringing light and life through our ordinary everyday vulnerabilities.","brand":"Koorong","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51561895264543,"sku":"9780310361879","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0925\/8981\/8143\/files\/9780310361879_1510602.jpg?v=1769141935","url":"https:\/\/koorong.com\/products\/honest-advent-awakening-to-the-wonder-of-god-with-us-then-here-and-now-575761","provider":"Koorong","version":"1.0","type":"link"}