In celebration of Advent

When I was forging my way through the holidays and trying to decide what traditions would mark our family, I was lovingly directed toward Advent.  I am so thankful.  It is now a time that I long for more and more with each passing year.  Sometimes we've had a "plan" for Advent; sometimes we've floundered our way through it.  Every Sunday evening between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, it is always a means of refocusing our hearts and our desires.  It is a way of reminding our kids why we celebrate Christmas.  Not for the gifts or the sparkle and tinsel or a jolly man in a red suit.  We build anticipation...Love is coming for us! 

A pre-Advent activity this year of homemade paper lanterns.  We are preparing our hearts to celebrate:

This year's sweet, humble Advent wreath:

A fabulous children's Bible which is a beloved part of our Advent time:

Our Christmas giving container.  After our Advent time, we do a "treasure hunt" to find hidden bills around the room.  They  put the treasures into the Christmas giving jar, and we pray about where God wants the money to go this year.  Here the kids are decorating our container.

And this favorite Nativity marks the backdrop.  The scene is barer than it will be in the weeks to come.  Now "Samuel" represents the prophets whose eyes of faith looked forward to the Messiah.  Soon Mary and Joseph will be accompanied by angels, and baby Jesus on Christmas morning.  The wise men travel from the far corners of the house to the Nativity scene, completing their journey on Epiphany Sunday.

I am not a person who has it all together at Christmas.  I struggle not to let Christmas become a season of personal stress.  I practically break out in hives over crowds and chaos.  I wish that I loved decorating, entertaining, and baking Christmas cookies with my kids, but the truth is that I don't.  Put in those terms, I am as lame as they come during the holiday season.

 

But strangely, Advent  has become a salve to my propensity toward Christmas-induced stress.  It is a chance to be quiet, to come back to the scene of God's goodness, to recenter my heart, mind and soul around the One who has my love.

And then there is Peace.  Love is coming for us. 

Merry Christmas.  May you too be preparing your heart to celebrate our Savior.