“Are you smellin’ what I’m steppin’ in?” That was a question posed by a friend from Mississippi. What I came to understand is that he was asking if I really heard what he was saying. The extension of course is that whatever is said is reflected in how you are walking. Are your kids “smellin’ what you’re steppin’ in”? Are you walking in faith or in something else?

In this second week of Advent, the candle lit represents the FAITH Christians have in the miracle birth of the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem. Born of the virgin Mary, the Savior came into the world. Mary did not understand how it would be possible but her response to Gabriel reflected a devout faith in God – “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38). Mary walked in faith.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she exclaimed with a loud cry: “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what He has spoken to her!” – Luke 1:41-45. There were actually two miracle births within six months of each other. One was by ‘natural’ conception, yet Elizabeth had been baron and both she and her husband Zechariah were “well along in years.” When an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah and told him that his wife would bear him a son, he stepped in his religion and doubt was stirred up. The angel struck him dumb until his son, John, was born. The second miracle birth was by immaculate conception. Mary’s faith and trust in the Lord God was affirmed when she visited her cousin Elizabeth. Similarly, what a dad walks in is affirmed as he sees his kids mature. Whether his steps are in the world, in religion or in faith in Christ, children follow a dad’s lead. The charge is to walk in faith in Christ.

Tips to walk in faith:

• Lead a family discussion time around faith with candid vulnerability;
• Read Hebrews 11:1 as a family and discuss the “reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen”;
• Reverend Tony Evans provides a unique definition, “Faith is acting like something is so even when it is not so in order that it might be so simply because God said so.”;
• Read Luke 1:1 – 2:20 as a family and discuss the miracles, the relationship between Mary & Elizabeth and between Jesus & John the Baptist;
• Discuss what you are walking in with a friend this week.

Prayer guide: Father, thank You for the miracle births – one that prepared the way for the Lord and One that established the Way to reconnect with You. I confess that I have stepped in the craziness around the holidays and have disconnected from the true Reason for this season. Forgive me. Help me step in the right stuff and walk in faith, in the miracle birth of You. Grant me strength to lead my family in the Reason for the season – to realize reconnection with You, our Father, through Your Son. That is the dad You call me to be, and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.

A faithful father walks in faith in Jesus the Christ.