the advent of advent

We aren’t going home this year for Christmas (like we have done for most of our married existence). I’m definitely going to miss the snow and Mama’s cookie perfection, but even more the joy of being with my family. Because of this, I’m doing my best to bring loads of holiday cheer into our home!  I actually lit the first advent candle on November 30. Never before done around here! I’ve been loosely using this Advent Guide for ideas about passages to read. Sundays during Advent, we light the candles, then every day during December, we pull an ornament out of the advent calendar. I’m always wondering if I can do it myself, so I whipped up this one. Not perfect, but it’ll do in a pinch. :)

Since the ornaments were too time-intensive to remake if broken, I wanted something to keep them safe and organized. I have the best memories of opening the doors to find delicious waxy chocolates in the advent calendars we had as children, so the idea of an advent calendar suited the ornaments perfectly! Magnus looks forward every evening to finding out what’s in the next pocket, so much so that he’s snuck several peeks into the bottom row, and when told not to peek, crunched one of the pockets in his teeth, breaking one of the ornaments. I love super glue. I seriously use it at least twice a week with boys that break everything. My mother used to always say that she could never have anything nice. Now I understand. Life with kids just means broken things… at least the most important things in life aren’t things, right?

What is advent? I think it technically means “coming”. It’s the celebration of the coming of Christmas, but even more specifically Christ. I think there’s something marvelous in preparing for such a special day by filling the days ahead with anticipation. Advent is the past, present, and future all rolled up into one. Every day when we hang one of the symbols on the branch, it reminds us of the waiting that the prophets and saints of old experienced when waiting for the Messiah, and draws us into the joys of waiting for things to come. Which I like because I’m always looking forward to something… though I am getting better at drinking in the moment. Speaking of drinking, I need some coffee.

Oh, I switched from the dowel tree to a branch this year. Too many ornaments on too small of a space!

Next post, I’m hoping to have a few more pictures of other fun things we’re doing to get ready for Christmas. Like cut down a tree… which we still haven’t done because of the rain. What is this dilemma of rain in the winter? Does. Not. Compute. :)