Advent is a season of waiting. We wait for God’s promises to unfold and we wait for Christ’s coming. As family caregivers, we can relate to this intimately. The road ahead often seems unclear and we struggle to see beyond our circumstances.

Here we see an opportunity for humanity to begin again in union with God. The first thing Noah did after his family and the animals left the ark was build an altar to the LORD God and make a burnt offering from every clean animal. “And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man…”

Here is the darkest moment in history. The serpent tempts and the people listen, then act. Their eyes are opened to good and evil, but instead of being wise like God, they only know the shame of disobedience. And for the first time, when the LORD God is heard walking in the garden, they hide.

As Advent unfolds—a season of wonder and hope—we need to turn back to the beginning of the story. God’s story of love for his creation begins in that first week with the way he shaped every living thing under heaven with intention. He breathed life into humanity. Each person, including you and the one in your care, bears the image of our Father.