I don't know if it is my Catholic upbringing, my constantly seeking heart, or my general love for Christmas, but I love Advent. When I was a child my mom always had the Advent wreath out. We would light the candles and read from the bible that sat on our coffee table. We would pray, and sit together as a family. It was in those moments that I really learned to seek the Lord always.
Advent is a season to prepare your heart. It is a time to reflect. A time to celebrate. A time to be in awe of the greatest gift that has ever happened. I want my children to have the opportunity to celebrate Advent with me. We don't have an advent wreath, My kids are not going to experience Advent exactly the way that I did. But we do our own Advent traditions.
We have made paper trees with each ring containing a part of the Christmas story. Each day we read a bit of it until Christmas where we sit down and read the whole thing. We always go through our toys, and belongings and leave a bag for Santa to take to kids who otherwise wouldn't get anything. We sing Christmas carols, and we dance around our family room. There is so much joy I want them to experience!
There are times when I am not sure that it is sinking in. I don't know that the understand how amazing Christmas is apart from the gifts, But then there are moments when one of them wants to read the Christmas story out loud, or I hear their little voices belting out traditional Christmas carols, and I know that the seed has been planted. In those moments I am filled with more joy than any tree, any present, or any Christmas gathering can bring!
It is those moments that I am holding on to, and praying that in the future when times are hard, when things are rough that they remember the peace, and the joy, and the amazing gift that God sent us in Jesus!
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