Advent candles all lit up

Advent Takes The Crazy Out of Christmas

We’re getting very close. Christmas Day. So far this December it doesn’t feel like winter is just around the corner; temps have been in the 60s and 70s even! Nice for some, but I prefer my Christmas-time, if not in bridal-veil white, at least with frosty air.

If you haven’t finished shopping yet, sit down. If you haven’t done the Christmas cookies yet, take a comfortable seat. If those last waning Christmas cards have yet to be sent out, don’t worry about it. If your house isn’t in tip-top shape yet for entertaining, take a deep breath and then another.

Relax. It’s Advent.

adventtakesthecrazy3
Seems like the perfect anomaly, doesn’t it? Who can relax, you’re screaming at me! I’ve got 35 things to do and only 24 hours in the day to do them.

In this Season of Advent our culture has practically wiped it off the map. There’s no mention of it, no alluding to its wonders, no remembering it day by day, as each day becomes a memory. Shouldn’t there be SOMETHING leading up to the most glorious time of the year?!

We all want perfect. We all want our holidays to go off without a hitch. No setbacks, no long lines, no backorders, no problemo’s. So, when your kids get sick, and customer service is out the door, and that precious gift won’t arrive until after New Year’s, let it go.

Just. Let. It. Go.

When you follow the December days in Advent, you’ll begin to look at the world and all it has to offer differently. See this Advent calendar? It’s one I have opened since I was very young, 7 or 8 years old. I put it out on my hutch every December without fail!

An old Advent calendar

Advent is only four short weeks, but it will teach you things you’ve forgotten or didn’t know at all. You’ll see all of it for exactly what it is. For instance,

I don’t worry anymore about money appearing when I need it. It will; one way or the other, abundance will find you.

So many things to do! How important are we, really? In our minds, we’ve built up more than we know, more than we are. Step away, if just for 5 minutes, and stop!

Step away and know what Advent really means.

Softly falling snow, candles in the windows, are quiet in this quiet season.
Be quiet with them. Don’t just see, envision. Don’t just hear, listen.

Advent takes the crazy out of Christmas with a softly lit glistenly tree in the snow and woods.

Look beyond things. Look deeply within.

Advent lets you (and me) do all of these things. As the commercials get crazier and the sales get goofier, my one wish is to stay away from the stores as much as possible. I hate the mad-dash! And shopping online can be an annoyance and a time-waster, too. Limit how you spend the hours of your day looking and listening to junk.

Close your eyes and just be.

No reading, no music, no tv, no smartphone, no knitting. (Did I just say that?!)

The quiet of Advent will be as a beacon in the dark. Instead of putting all your emphasis on things only of this world, this season lights your way to tomorrow and beyond. With or without knitting needles in your lap.

Because Advent will make paths straight where they were never straight before; Advent shines an anticipatory light onto events yet to come; Advent holds our breath and makes us slow down to listen.

When your knitting, your day, your circumstances, your health, your finances, your outlook, your faith are all challenged, turn to Advent. Because beyond is Christmas Day. Where the star shines brightly, to show you, and me, the way.

There is no mistaking which way to go.

Picture of the Nativity scene

Just another way to

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