ADVENTure | Convo #1: Do You See the Promise?

Hope isn’t a mood we chase in December; it’s a promise with a name. We open the season by looking through Mary’s eyes, where an ordinary day collides with God’s faithful word and changes the story for every family that follows. From the angel’s announcement to the echoes of Isaiah and Matthew, we trace how a centuries-old promise becomes deeply personal—shaping how we pray, parent, give, and wait when the details don’t make sense yet.

Host Tosha Williams shares how this promise threads through Scripture and into our kitchens, commutes, and crowded schedules, and why the book of Galatians calls us heirs to something bigger than holiday tradition. We talk about trust that moves like Mary’s “be it unto me according to your word," as we balance between the honest tension of slow answers and second guesses. Then we ground it in practice with a simple tradition inspired by the real Saint Nicholas: giving early “promise gifts” that point to Emmanuel. Think small, meaningful tokens paired with Scripture to remind the people in your care that God keeps His word and Christmas is coming.

This conversation is devotion-driven and practical. You’ll leave with questions to ask God this week, Scriptures to hold, and an easy way to share hope with your people. If you’re craving a Christmas that feels less frantic and more faithful, this is your on-ramp to seeing promise in the middle of ordinary life and letting your everyday kindness whisper His faithfulness.

Find the coordinating devotion-driven discipleship guide HERE.

If this episode resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend this holiday season, and leave a quick review so others can find these conversations. 

Which of God's promises are YOU holding onto this week?

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Promises, promises, promises.
Christmas is full of them, isn'tit?
Every child feels it.
That spark of hope, thatcountdown, that anticipation
that something really good iscoming.
And honestly, we grown-ups,well, we feel it too.
There's something aboutChristmas that stirs up that

(00:30):
longing for a promise.
Whether it's spoken or unspoken,that promise that goodness, one
way, shape, or another, iscoming our way.
But long before presents were apart of Christmas, the promise
was the heartbeat of Christmas.
It was a promise that was spokenby God, it was carried through

(00:54):
the prophets, it was whisperedto Mary, and it was fulfilled in
Jesus.
So as we step into this firstadventure conversation, here's
our question.
Do you see the promise?
Because this week, as we beginthis collection of conversations

(01:16):
that we're simply titling, DoYou See What I See?
We're going to look throughMary's eyes.
We're going to look through eyesthat saw God's promise for his
people, but also saw God'spromise for herself personally.
Hi, my name is Tasha Williams,and I want to welcome you to the

(01:38):
Family Disciple Me Ministry,where this year we're not just
doing Advent, we're doingAdventure because we believe
that Christmas is meant to beencountered, to be explored, and
we believe that thisconversation collection, do you
see?

(01:59):
What I see is the ultimateexpression of devotion-driven
discipleship.
So I'm so glad that you're herewith me today.
And well, first of all, we'regoing to look through Mary's
eyes, and then I'm going toshare with you our adventure
activity for this week.
Now, as we get started, pictureMary with me.

(02:21):
She was a young girl on anordinary day when suddenly she
was face to face with an angel.
I don't know about you, but ifthat were me, I would have
needed a moment to catch mybreath.
Actually, I may have neededseveral moments.
But Mary, well, she listenedbecause the angel began

(02:44):
unfolding to her a promiseIsrael had waited centuries to
hear.
You will conceive and give birthto a son.
He will be great.
He will reign forever.
And Matthew wrote in his gospelthat all this happened to
fulfill what God had promisedthrough the prophet Isaiah when

(03:06):
he wrote, the virgin willconceive and give birth to a
son, and they will call himEmmanuel.
I'm certain that Mary grew uphearing that prophecy.
I absolutely believe that sheknew that promise and many more
promises, but suddenly thepromise to her people became a

(03:29):
promise spoken to herpersonally.
She couldn't have understoodeverything.
Honestly, who would?
But she believed that God keepshis word.
And that's why her cousinElizabeth said to her, Blessed
is she who has believed that theLord would fulfill his promises

(03:51):
to her.
Mary believed the promise spokenthrough the prophets.
She believed the promise spokento her heart by the angel.
She believed the God who can dothe impossible.
Now, maybe you're listening tothis while you're on your way to
work, or you're watching thiswhile you're on the treadmill at

(04:13):
the gym, or maybe you're justlistening while you're stirring
dinner on the stove.
You may have kids running allaround.
You may be in the midst of acrowd with your headphones in.
You may be all by yourself in aquiet moment.
Regardless, whatever ishappening in your life right
now, real life is happening allaround you in this very ordinary

(04:35):
moment.
But do you know what I've beenlearning as I have been seeking
to see through Mary's eyes?
I've begun to see that God lovesto whisper his promises right in
the middle of our everyday,ordinary moments, the very same
way that he whispered hispromise into Mary's life on an

(05:00):
ordinary day.
We may not get an angel like shedid.
In fact, we probably won't getan angel, and yet the invitation
is here for us.
God is saying, look again, seemy promises, seek me until these
promises that I've given in myword become personal to you.

(05:20):
So here's my challenge for you.
My challenge for myself is toask God, Lord, what have you
promised my family?
Lord, what words from Scripturedo you want me to cling to right
now?
God, where are you fulfillingpromises in my everyday,

(05:42):
ordinary life?
Promises that I haven't evennoticed you fulfilling yet.
Here's what I know.
When we seek the Lord, when weask him questions like that,
when we're in his word and we'relooking to see him in a new way,
I believe that when we seek him,he will help us to see

(06:03):
everything that he wants to showus often more clearly than we
can even imagine.
Thing is, Mary wasn't the firstto carry God's promise.
She wasn't the last either.
The promise, well, it came fromthe beginning of time.
It rippled from Abraham to theprophets to Jesus to the early

(06:25):
church and into our lives today.
I love what Galatians chapter 3,verse 29 says.
If you belong to Christ, thenyou are Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise.

You see, here's the thing (06:40):
God's promises, they're not just
ancient history.
God's promise is your family'sstory.
It's your children'sinheritance, it's your legacy.
And Christmas, it isn't onlyabout a promise that was kept
back then.

(07:01):
It's about a promise that'sstill alive right now, today, in
your ordinary life and in mine.
And when we truly begin to seethat, I believe that we live
with a very different kind ofhope.
So what do we do with thispromise?

(07:22):
I love what Mary shows us.
And as we look through her eyesand see her response, well, we
can respond in a new way aswell.
Mary said, be it unto meaccording to your word.
That's not a passive response.
That's courageous.
That's trust emotion.

(07:43):
And to be honest, I've hadseasons where I have felt like
God's promises, well, they wereslow, or maybe they were never
going to happen, or they werejust too big to become possible
for me, for my family.
Times when I've wondered if I'dlistened to him correctly, if I
had understood his word right.

(08:05):
And maybe you've been there too.
Maybe you've had those momentswhere you've questioned God's
promise.
But the thing about Mary is thatshe reminds us that faith isn't
about having all the details.
Faith is about trusting the Godwho keeps his word.
And so this week we get to leanin more to him, seeking his

(08:29):
promise and seeing them in a newway, and asking him, what
promise do you want me to seeand hold on to right now?
How are you wanting me to followyou today like never before?
Because here's what I believe.
When we respond to God'spromise, our faith in him takes

(08:50):
real shape and real movement inour real, everyday, ordinary
lives.
And well, speaking of our real,everyday, ordinary lives, well,
this week, as this podcast goeslive, is actually my birthday
week.
And turns out my birthday,December 6th, is also Saint

(09:12):
Nicholas Day.
Now, I didn't grow upcelebrating Saint Nicholas Day.
I didn't know the shoes or knowabout the oranges or the
chocolates or the history, noneof it.
Had no idea about it until a fewyears ago when I discovered that
my birthday was actually aholiday.
It's mostly a European holiday.

(09:32):
But the more that I've learnedabout the real Saint Nicholas,
the more I've realizedsomething.
Nicholas didn't give giftsbecause it was cute or
traditional.
He gave gifts because, well, hewas a Christ follower and he
believed the promise, thepromise that Mary carried, the

(09:57):
promise that Jesus fulfilled,the promise that God still gives
us today.
Nicholas, who ended up beingknown as Santa Claus, well, the
real Nicholas, he believed Godwas true to his word.
He believed that he followed agenerous God.
And well, his giving of giftswas a way of reflecting what he

(10:23):
believed.
And I think that's why thistradition is becoming so
meaningful to me.
I have grandchildren now, so Idecided that every December 6th
on my birthday, on St.
Nicholas Day, that I'm going togive a gift to each of my
grandchildren.
You know, that's a fun way tocelebrate my birthday as I get

(10:43):
older.
But I think that it's also sucha fun adventure activity.
So this year I want to inviteyou into this St.
Nicholas Day, my birthday, withme.
Let's give small promise giftsto those that God has entrusted

(11:05):
to us or is asking us to bless.
These gifts don't have to beanything big or fancy, but
obviously December 6th is wellbefore December 25th.
And these gifts become littlereminders that whisper God keeps
his promises, and Christmas iscoming.

(11:27):
What a joyful way to begin tocelebrate the holidays and to
begin the adventure ofChristmas.
I'd love to invite you into thiswith me.
Sometime this week, whether it'sDecember 6th or another day this
week, doesn't matter the day.
I challenge you to give someoneor maybe some someone's in your

(11:49):
life some sort of promise gift,something that's simple,
something that's joyful,something that communicates.
This is a promise that remindsus of a greater promise, the
greatest promise, God's promise.
And I want you to see thatpromise as well.

(12:11):
You see, when we live like this,when we respond like Mary, when
we give like Nicholas, well, wecan help others see God's
promise more clearly as well.
And that's what discipleship isall about.
That's how we live out.
Seek Him, speak Him.

(12:32):
You see, when you see an aspectof Christmas, when you see the
promise like never before, andmaybe there's a promise that God
is highlighting or going tohighlight to you as you spend
some time in the devotion-drivendiscipleship guide.
I hope that you'll do that alongthe way.
But when you see the promiselike never before, whichever

(12:55):
promise it is that God isshowing you, well, you naturally
want to help someone else see ittoo.
So, friend, let your life pointothers to the God who keeps his
word.
Let your kindness whisper hisfaithfulness in keeping his
promises.

(13:16):
Let your promise gift or giftsbecome a seed of hope in someone
else's Christmas journey.
Because discipleship is simplyabout helping someone else see
what you've seen in Jesus.
Isn't that amazing?
That's something that everysingle one of us can do as a

(13:39):
Christ follower.
So this week in our conversationcollection, do you see what I
see?
I'm praying that you will seethe promise like never before.
I'm praying that God will showyou one of his promises that he
specifically has for you thisweek that he wants you to

(14:01):
meditate on and remember in anew way.
I'm praying that you will bereminded that God's promises
aren't just ancient, long-agoscriptures, but they are
relevant to your everyday,ordinary life this week.
And, well, as you remember that,don't forget, everyday ordinary

(14:26):
lives need to have a little bitof adventure when it comes to
Christmas.
So lean in, spend some time inthe devotion-driven discipleship
guide that goes along with thispodcast, this vodcast.
Spend some time meditating onthe scriptures that go along
with this episode, and then besure to spend a little bit of

(14:49):
time in the adventure this weekand invite someone else into the
conversation with you.
Next week, we're going to talkabout do you see what I see?
Do you see the king?
I can't wait to talk to youabout that.
But until then, keep looking forthe promise that God sent us in

(15:10):
Jesus.
Look through Mary's eyes forwhat he's given us as his
people, and also what he's givenyou personally.
God is so faithful, andChristmas is coming.
He promised it, and he alwayskeeps his word.
Be encouraged, friend.
I'll see you in the nextepisode.

(15:32):
Have a great week.