Emma Witmer

The Advent season gives us an opportunity to slow down and focus on what Christmas means and brings. This collection of poetry is a devotional that follows the five candles of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Christ. May it help guide you as you reflect and meditate on the hope, peace, joy and love of Christ during the Christmas season, or at any time of the year.

After being tossed about upon the open waves of the vast ocean, we may find ourselves landing upon the stillness of a shore that is just a little too still, a little too silent. There are frustrations, questions, doubts, and fears, coupled with deep thoughts and very real emotions. The moments of joy and peace seem all too infrequent and we wonder where our faith intersects with the realities of life. Stormy Seas and Silent Shores is a collection of writings that brings to light the all-too-real emotions and thoughts of true challenges faced by so many - realities that are all too infrequently brought to the surface in open conversation.