My love of all things Christmas – and an Advent Calendar
My birthday is on the 23rd day of September so I
start counting down to Christmas that day…it is exactly 92 days till Christmas
at that point. I am one of those
annoying people who start reminding people at work of how many days it is much
to their chagrin.
What I love about Christmas, well it’s everything! As a faith based person, it is a very
spiritual time for me and has been ever since I first became part of the family
of God. But, it all really started with
my mom, who was like me the lover of all things Christmas. Her birthday was in December and all she ever
wanted for her birthday was lights, Christmas decorations and a tree decorating
party with us kids. However, she was the
one who put the tinsel on the tree and it had to be perfectly placed. How many of you remember “tinsel”. You younger folks, its’ ok, never mind, it
would be a little like explaining the typewriter.
I thought I was the lover and knower of all things Christmas,
however, I had an amazing revelation in church on Sunday. Our Pastor spoke on the Advent. It’s important you understand that I have
made or bought advent calendars for years for my son when he was little, my
granddaughter and even myself. However,
I always thought the advent calendar was just to keep kids from asking a
hundred times a day, “is it Christmas yet” or just for me to count down the
days? I realized Sunday, that it is
really all about announcing the coming of Christ. About now, you are probably saying
‘duh’. For me though, it brought a
whole new meaning to the Advent calendar for me. Just so you know, I am the mom who had a
“Happy Jesus Birthday Party” each year for all the neighborhood kids, complete
with birthday cake and ice cream. I sat
on the floor in a circle (not as easy to do
these days J)
with the kids and read them the story of Christmas from the Bible, gave out
presents to each kid and explained to
them why we put up lights and a Christmas tree and give presents to each
other from a biblical perspective. How I
missed the whole point of the advent calendar, I don’t know. Great news, I now have a new tradition for
Christmas though that will include a spiritual advent calendar. Our Pastor’s daughter, shared pictures of the
one she made for her room, wow, what a talented young lady. I wish I could post her picture here, but
next year, I’ll post my own.
On each of the other 11 days of Christmas- Shavanna style, I plan to share at least one tradition, or
meaning that is particularly significant to me.
While we all have our own traditions, I hope that sharing some of mine,
will bless you, touch your heart in some way or bring hope and encouragement to
you if you need it.
Christmas is so much more than shopping, baking, making the
perfect Christmas dinner, having the right gift to give (even though for many
of us, much of that is included in our Christmas’s). It is about traditions, family, what’s in our
hearts and most of all Jesus, “the reason for the season”. I hope you will tune in every couple of days
to see what comes next.
I know everyone is busy at this time of year, so
I will try not to make these too long, because I would love for you to open
this gift I’m giving to all of you and think of Christmas with peace in your
heart. 
This is an older picture of one of our granddaughters. When I look at this picture, I see so many
things going through that little mind of hers.
I decided to post this picture to start with because I wanted say, let’s
all try to see Christmas this year through the eyes of a child. It could change our perspective in some
marvelous ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment