todays the first sunday of advent. a warm and welcoming time in the church to help us prepare and wait. like any other home this time of year, the church is under prepartions, in my home we are preparing, with only four weeks of advent there is so much to do… so much to prepare our hearts, minds, bodys and souls for. every year december rolls around and yet it never seems like we’re ready, better yet im not ready… come to think of it, no one is quite ready to receive the many gifts advent brings for us.

many of us have fallen into the business of the season, distracted with so many preparations for our families, and our homes but yet our hearts remain restless, hopeless,anxiously anticipating christmas.. simply forgetting the reason for the season, forgetting to slow down, pray and wait..

in our home we are not ready, yet we are filled with hope, hope continuously fills in the empty cracks of our home, though the world is chaotic, there is a dwelling place in which hope remains…

the first week of advent is upon us, ready to reignite the flame of hope many of us have lost in the business of our lives. are the doors of your heart open? what is hope for you? where or in who dos you place your hope in? in this little home our hope is always placed in the Lord. we place our hope in him because we trust in his plan for us, we trust and fix our gaze upon him. my husband and I have come to discover in marriage there is no ‘I’ there is just a ‘we’ and in this discovery we have found the moment we entrust our hope in him is the minute we make space for the Holy Spirit to act in our lives, its when we say ‘ Lord, we trust you, we may not know where we are going, or what is going to happen but we trust in your divine plan for us, our hope remains in you Lord…

my dear brothers and sisters in christ,

welcome to casamercado, this is a home, a humble home in which the Lord continuiously resides in, a home in which we find the Lord amidst a world of chaos. a home in which we face modern day challenges but remain true to the church and its teaching. a home in which we choose to love and serve the Lord through our marriage. a home, we choose to pray, hope and not worry. a home of obedience, and submission in God and in each other. a home built on hope, peace, love and joy.

so join us this season, join us in union as we pray, hope and love for all marriages and homes together.

may the coming of our saviors birth, bestow hope upon your homes.

with love, your brother and sister in Christ,

the mercados.