Advent – Christ is Coming
I learned this week that the word ADVENT means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. In Christian terms that means ‘the coming of Christ’. Most years I try to do fun Advent activities leading up to Christmas. Some years I make elaborate calendars with events listed like:
• Watch a Christmas Movie
• Make Cookies
• Build a Gingerbread House (although they do this with our friend Abbie)
• Visit Santa
• Go to a light show
• A Live Nativity Play
• Christmas Music Recitals
• Read a Christmas Story
• Making paper snowflakes
• Do a Christmas Puzzle
• Make an ornament
• Host a Christmas party
Other years with a lot less energy we read an Advent Book. Our favorite is the “Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent” series by Arnold Ytreeide. This is a series of 4 books that you read in a yearly rotation, one book each year. The books take you up to the birth of Christ from the viewpoint of the shepherd boy, the Magi’s son, a young son traveling for the census, and a fisherman’s son. Years ago, this was gifted to us by some special friends who also play a part in our yearly festivities.
We decided to play ‘Dirty Santa’ with our neighbors one year. The only rule was you had to gift JUNK. We both lived on farms and it was easy to scavenge junk to play with. When the night was done, we simply through it away with no regrets but a memory of all the fun we had. Gifts have ranged from a discarded walker with tennis ball feet, a homemade johnboat welded together from two car hoods, a WILD cat with a goatee beard, a burned-out computer monitor, and a case of Vienna Sausages. Our only rule was if you were under 10, you actually got to choose GOOD stuff from a different pile. This might seem like a dumb game, but in a time of tight finances yet wanting to celebrate Christmas together, our two families of 18 people found a way to have a good time. We mamas also knew we needed no more stuff to organize so disposable junk was the way to go.
You might wonder where we found many of those items? All farms have a trash pile. Ours started long before we acquired the property. We have cleaned it up tremendously over the years of owning it. Our teenage boys who always needed money would load up all the junk metal to recycle and earn some pocket cash in the process. We have burned a lot of it. However, every so often a ‘treasure’ will catch your eye and when you dig it out you can decide how best to wrap it for the exchange.
After years of exchanging junk, we decided to change the name to the “Nutcracker Exchange” a much more dignified game, and we moved on to wrapping FOOD. Again, we wanted nothing extra to take care of and figured that the food would quickly be eaten. The game excitement ramped up! Sugary cereal, soda, candy, pop tarts, boxed brownie mixes, even ice cream gift cards were all wildly fought over. By this time most of the kids were over 10 and all the little kids enjoy the treats anyway, so it worked out well. The only rules are it has to be desirable food…nothing gross! And the gift freezes after in the third owner’s hands. These simple family traditions do not cost much. They are always fun and looked forward too by everyone. Those memories fill my heart of Christmas Joy from the past.
As I have struggled to get in the holiday spirit this year, I have looked back on other years and reminded myself that my children need normal. They need tradition… they need magical… they need expectation… most of all they need us, David and I to be present both in body, but especially in mind. They need to know our family didn’t die when Millie did. Yes, it is HARD! Yes, it is different! It always will be. She will never be forgotten, but we will still continue to live life as we wait for heaven.
This year Advent has been a little slower. I did not mail out cards, though I wondered if I did would I need to write an explanation about why Millie was not in our family picture this year… except she was. We took the photos just before she passed away in July. She looks so sick that I can’t bear to add them to my “Merry Christmas” cards, yet I really can’t think of doing one without her in them. I don’t have the extra energy anyway. Thank you notes after her funeral were about all I could handle this year.
For those of us here at home, I bought a new Christmas movie and sister brought another one home. I have been reading a daily advent devotion to Little Man and SJ as often as I remember. We have a simple advent cardboard calendar that they open the window to see the picture behind. I probably should have got the ones with candy in the holes! That would have had us remembering daily… Our house has a few decorations up, but not our tree yet. I’ve purchases a few gifts, but it blows me away to think I supposed to be done in just 14 days. Christmas just has a slower pace this year.
One thing I was very excited about was a special ornament that I had custom made for two of my favorite ‘angels’.
Ady Strong and Leavyn Laine – Our Little Braveheart
These sweet girls are both fighting and BEATING CANCER! Millie loved these girls, and we are so excited to support them as they continue their healing journey. I hope these ornaments will remind them of that year they fought and won in their battle.
As we get closer you will see the Christmas scripture quoted many places. The birth of Jesus story is presented in both the gospel of Luke and the gospel of Matthew, although what we hear is often blended from facts in the first four books of the New Testament. Do you read this story on CHRISTmas Eve? Do you point your family toward Christ or towards the worldly celebration of self? Does doing for others show in your celebration or does it seem the ‘gimmie hands’ are set ready to receive? I encourage you to focus your Christmas gatherings on family but show them the true meaning of the celebration. Remind them of the first gift they ever received, the gift of a small baby so many years ago who came into this world as a light of salvation.
Luke 2:8-20
“Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us.” So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child, and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean. So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.”
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
I still believe in Millie’s Miracle
｡･:*:･ﾟ☆Hebrews 11:1 ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
︵‿︵‿୨☆୧‿︵‿︵
No comments:
Post a Comment