There’s a strange, beautiful in-between space that lives right after Thanksgiving and just before Advent begins.
The leftovers are still in the fridge, the tablecloth hasn’t quite made it back into the closet, and our hearts are somewhere between “thank you” and “come, Lord Jesus.”
It’s not quite one season or the next.
It’s the pause — the deep breath — between gratitude and hope.
Every year, this week sneaks up on me. I always think I’ll be more prepared, more rested, more organized. But instead, I find myself standing in that quiet doorway between what has been and what’s coming next, trying to make sense of both.
And maybe that’s exactly where Advent begins — not in perfection, but in pause.
We live most of our lives in the in-between. Between busy and still, between faith and doubt, between gratitude for what is and longing for what will be. The world around us rushes straight into the holidays — shopping, decorating, doing — but Advent invites something different.
It whispers: Wait. Watch. Wonder.
It’s not passive waiting. It’s active hope — the kind that looks for light before it’s fully dawn. It’s gratitude stretched forward, believing that the same God who’s been faithful in the past will keep showing up in the days ahead.
So maybe this week, before we light the first Advent candle or hang the first garland, we can sit with the tension a bit.
We can let gratitude soften into hope.
We can let our thanks become a prayer:
“God, thank You for what has been.
Help me trust You for what’s coming.”
You don’t have to rush into joy. You don’t have to have your life tidied up for the new year or your heart fully settled for Christmas.
You just have to show up to the moment you’re in — right here, between turkey leftovers and Advent wreaths — and trust that God is in this space, too.
Because that’s the real miracle of this season:
God doesn’t wait for the lights to be hung or the lists to be finished.
God comes right into the middle of our ordinary, messy, half-prepared lives.
And maybe that’s enough reason to be both thankful and hopeful at the same time.
Reflection:
Where are you living “in-between” right now — between gratitude and hope, endings and beginnings?
How might you invite God into that space?