december 24th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read the Advent Devotion. 

Today, help Mom and Dad pack up the car and enjoy the drive...

Laughing all the way!"

We are taking our Christmas over the river and through the woods this year.

I had planned today to be a packing, traveling, doing kind-of-day, so I was surprised with the gift of a quiet, contemplative morning.  

The sun was not even up when I smelled coffee brewing.  I came down stars to the softest music, candles lit, tree glowing and my sweet husband reading by the fire.  We sat in the stillness, the pause, between yesterday's grand celebration and tomorrow's big plans.

I am looking forward to our quaint Christmas in the country.

But the anticipation, the waiting, the planning, and the new traditions we have started this year make me just a little sad that it is almost over.

I have NEVER said that about the holidays before.

May you find the quietest moment this Christmas Eve to savor the thrill of anticipation.

december 23rd

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion.  

Take notice of all your blessings today.

Try to count them."

We had "Grammy Christmas" today.  It is the climax of the holiday season for the kids.  So many cousins.  So much food. Too many presents to count.  We watched a movie of our Christmas together 12 years together.  We watched a movie of our Christmas together 2 years ago. They all add up to something pretty wonderful.  

I have been so busy years past trying to make it through the holidays that I have missed being IN them.

It was this day last year that was Granny Black's last day on earth.  Maybe we felt that this year.  I am not sure what it was.  But there was an awareness that what we have today, this moment and all the moments that we've shared up to this time, equals something very special.

Merry Grammy Christmas to YOU!

december 22nd

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion and tonight, as a family, 

read The Night Before Christmas"

december 21st

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion!

After you have done that ask Mom about our plans for the day."

december 20th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion 

and 

send an email to someone who has been a good friend to you."

december 19th

In the Advent Calendar Today: 

"Read today's Advent Devotion.

At dinner tonight with ALL FOUR of your Grandparents, 

tell each of them about a lesson they have taught you."

december 18th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion. 

As a family, talk about where you see God's Spirit in your world."

december 17th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion.  

Tonight we will make eggnog and hot chocolate 

and play games by the fire."

It takes so much planning to pull off Christmas morning.  Sometimes I forget that the best moments are the  ones that just happen.  We had an "express Christmas" with my family last night.

We packed my (new!) car with presents.  Used a Groupon for a dozen cupcakes.  Did FaceTime with my brother's family in Texas. And topped off the night with dinner at a mexican restaurant.  

We shared a moment that all of us will remember forever. I was smiling for days remembering our time together.

It doesn't have to be complicated.

It doesn't have to cost anything.

It doesn't have to be on the calendar for months.

My son summed the evening up when he said, 

"I had my expectations really low for this night and I am having the best time!"

Tonight, we did make hot chocolate (with the packages of Starbuck's salted caramel and the magic of the Cocomotion).  We lit the fire.  We played our Christmas music.  

My daughter won Clue on her first turn.

My husband kicked our tail in Yatzee.

I was thrilled that my kids were finally old enough to play 16 rounds of Count Down.

 Our expectations took a vacation for a couple of days and we were free to enjoy each other.

december 16th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion and put a surprise in the mailbox for our mailman."

I know...it is a common courtesy to give a gift to your postman/woman/person.  But in years past, that has always been just one more thing on my list that I never get to.   One of my friends told me that the person who delivered her paper left an address so she would know where to send Christmas tips.  This is the kind of obligation that makes me bristle.  My mailman has never done that.  

And it is in these 8/9 days till Christmas that I start to feel the pressure that I have been not so successful at warding off with my sacred Christmas plans.

Even though all the presents are bought and wrapped, suddenly my children change their minds about what they want from Santa. Even details like their favorite color change.  

Remember our Advent Mission to deliver dog treats?

Well, one of those neighbor's delivered a special gift to my daughter to thank her.  

My daughter said,

"This is the best gift I have ever received."

Yes, she is known to be dramatic.  And the sweet gift of candy and a teddy bear figurine, while wonderful, could not be the BEST gift, right?  

She further explained, "What I mean is that all the gifts I get someone is supposed to get me (because I am their daughter/granddaughter/cousin/niece), but when someone gives you a gift that you do not deserve and they don't even know you...that is the gift that means the world to you."

Today, notice the gifts that no one was "obligated" to give to you and receive them with joy.

december 15th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion and 

Go to the Library!

Deliver a treat to our favorite librarian."

My love for the library, well, there are not enough words.  I love books.  I love free books.  I love used books. I love reading them.  I love listening to them.  I love sharing them. I love returning a big stack and checking out an even bigger stack.  And I love our librarian.

He knows us by name.  He changes due dates for our lost cds and missing books.  He knows when books are waiting for us.  He knows when we are waiting for particular books.  It all just feels so very Mayberry-ish.

Our stop by the grocery store to get Sir Librarian a gift was not so dear.  My daughter became quite attached to a gift tin that was too small for the treats we had already found.  I chose another container that she did not love and would not let her change the treat to fit in the tin.  Does this seem harsh?  I just wanted to get out of the store and move on with our day.  She quite firmly told me that this was supposed to be from HER and that it was NOT. As if this was all a giant deception we were pulling over on our library friend.

I went into robot-mom mode and smiled blankly through the check-out line.  This is not who I want to be.  Not at Christmas-time.  Not at any time.  

Good thing we were headed to the library to stock up on books to fill the hours of quality time we have ahead of us.

A few of our finds:

The Cricket in Time Square by George Seldon

The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

Blast from the Past by Meg Cabot

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

May you find something to snuggle up and read as you recover from the stress of holiday shopping.

december 14th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's devotion and then go on a hunt for change around the house and in the car.

Deliver it to the Salvation Army bell ringer."

Sometimes I amuse myself with my grand plans.

Ok, so it doesn't sound like a grand plan. But you know, there are days when the smallest things feel daunting.  

This was the last day of school.  And we have worked really hard to get here.  We were wiped out.  All of us.  I had no energy to inspire the kids to go on a scavenger hunt. I took a bath and was in my pajamas before the sun went down.  The kids played way too many video games and I spent too much time on Pinterest.  

We ate dinner in shifts and then I made cookies.  They were really delicious.  Everyone else in my house is in their own space right now.  I am listening to my White Christmas Pandora station.  

It seemed a good time to read today's Advent Devotion:

Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" ~John 1:22

Who are you?

What do you say about yourself?

In business, parenting, updating my fb status, figuring out how to tweet, finding my place at church, even pinning "my style"...I am constantly trying to answer those questions.

And some days it's nice to stop.

Sometime soon we will collect our spare change.  We will deliver it to the jolly ones who diligently ring that bell outside of Kroger.  And we will feel a little pleased with ourselves for sharing the tiniest bit of our abundance.  

But tonight, I will find rest from trying to figure out what I am supposed to give.  I will take a break from answering all the questions about who I am.  And for today, I will practice what it means to just be.

May you know you are loved. Just for being.

december 13th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion and after school deliver a treat to Dad at his office.

Tell him something you really value about him."

So, I wasn't prepared for school ending at 9:45 am (because of exams).

I did not anticipate the adrenaline that someone must have injected into my children in their sleep.

I can't believe I still have 12 more days of this ahead of me.

Peace on Earth.

Goodwill toward men.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

Who am I kidding?  I can't.  Sometimes you just run out and today I am out.

The kids are in good spirits. 

They loved delivering "jr. cheeseburgers with ketchup only" to their dad.

Their letters were full of things they noticed, but you don't think kids do.

Like how much they appreciate all the work my husband has been doing to get a new car.

As the day wore on, they could also clearly sense that I was in need of a break.

While I was writing, they both got all up in my space and said, 

"Mom, I think you need to leave early for work today and treat yourself to a little me time.''

Of course, they really just wanted my computer for themselves. But I took their advice and gave myself a break.  I tossed a book into my purse and found my way to a warm restaurant to snuggle into for a couple of hours of mindless alone time. 

May you find peace today and goodwill toward (wo)man. 

Treat yourself to some well-needed "me time". 

december 12th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read today's Advent Devotion and go shopping for the Ramey boys.

Try to find gifts that can easily be tucked into Todd and Laura's suitcases."

I met a lady at the gym today whose husband lost his job last year.  

She said, "This wasn't the life we planned for."

A friend recently received a terrifying diagnosis. "We are sad and scared," she confesses.

Another family close to our hearts waits and waits and waits for the arrival of their 3 boys from Haiti.  "The big question we always get is, 'so when do you get your boys?' We wish we had an answer to that" (ibelieveinyou).

These were the musings of my morning, when I read today's devotion:

"by paths they have not known, I will guide them" Isaiah 42:16.

How comforting to know that when we fall, scrape ourselves, trip in the dark, bump into a tree, doubt ourselves and God...we are being guided through it all.

"There is a light.  No matter how dark it may become, there is a radiance that will not be denied, that cannot be ignored" (followthestar).

May you know the light, feel it's warmth, on every step of your path today.

december 10th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Read the Advent Devotion and then look for an opportunity to show kindness or appreciation for someone throughout your day."

We had a packed morning beginning with a swim meet and everyone was moving in different directions the rest of the day. Today's advent mission had to be something the kids could do on their own.

I read the devotion on my iphone during some of the down time at the meet.

"Peace. One definition of peace is “normal.” It is the state that is without war and without violence. I am not sure I would claim it as normal. I look around and what I normally see is stress, anxiety, worry, and chaos. People running from one activity to the next, working on a paper and project, and studying for a test — this seems to be normal...

Can we decide that our new normal is PEACE?"

~Michelle Thomas-Bush

All I had to do was look around the giant middle school event and see the stress, anxiety, worry and chaos that surrounded me. As well as courage, excitement and the thrill of the competition. We watched friends and family cheer on the winners and celebrate the last guy to complete his laps. In the midst of all that chaos there was a sweet sweet spirit.

As my son climbed out of the water of his last race, he found out that he had been disqualified for not touching the side with both hands. We said we were really proud of him anyway. Even though he was bummed, he was also relieved to be warm and to be done, so we quickly walked out to the car to move on with our full day.

When we were driving I started thinking about the Advent Mission: to show someone kindness. I asked B if he had a chance to do that at the meet. He said he cheered on his friends but he didn't say or do anything thinking about who needed kindness.

I asked him what he would think about offering himself kindness for being disqualified.

He thought that was a great idea.

Our own anxious hearts are desperate for kindness.

Today, let us see our anxiety, worry, chaos, and stress as exhausted, confused, and overwhelmed parts of us.

Give yourselves the same kindness and aprecitation that you would give to someone else who was working so hard on your behalf. Especially during the Holidays!

december 9th

In the Advent Calendar Today:

"Want to go grocery shopping today? Neither do I. Today, let's show some appreciation to the people who help us at the store all of the time. When we get our groceries, we will deliver a gift."

It might not seem life changing to you, but when one of my friends introduced me to online grocery shopping, food changed for me and my family. I don't know if I just can't handle the stress of choosing between 34 versions of everything on my list or if that my list is just another piece of paper I can't find when I need it, if I bothered to write one...for these reasons and so many more, I LOVE Harris Teeter's Express Lane.

I can place my order online in less than 20 minutes. I am usually sitting in my kitchen, so I can look at my fridge and pantry to see what I do and don't need. I pull into the lovely drive through, push a button, say my name and a beautiful human brings out my sorted and bagged food, placing it right in my trunk.

So, all this to say, a gift to our grocery-store friend was a gift of deep appreciation for all the ways she has helped us this year.

After I got the kids from school, we went shopping for a few gifts and found a big mug gift with chocolate, hot chocolate and cookies in it. It was not our usual helper, but we were happy just the same to share a gift of Christmas with her.

As soon as my daughter handed the gift to her saying, "Merry Christmas!"

The woman said, "I will make sure and get this to the woman who is regularly here."

She shut the trunk and moved on quickly, so I trusted the gift was going to go to whoever needed a little treat this day.

This is a common theme in my life these days (The Widow's Mite/The Artist's Courage):

We offer our gifts and then we release them.

What joy to imagine the things that what we choose, create and share with another might have a purpose beyond our vision and plans.

December Scavenger Hunt

advent, noun.
a coming or arrival, especially of something infrequent or unusually important.

Don't you love finding the perfect gift? It makes Christmas for me. I can't wait to see that person open that gift on December 25th. It is easy to rush through all of the to-do's of the holiday and forget to notice those things you may love very best about this season of Merry and Bright. Take some time to look for the little gifts this month has for you.

~a canned food drive or a salvation army volunteer ringing their bell with a smile
~a fire in a fireplace
~a cookie plate left for Santa
~a menorah being lit
~friends sharing a laugh
~children writing letters to Santa
~a person bundled up in the cold

Write a story, take a picture, sing a song about what you see.
Post your treasures in the comment box or on your blog (make sure to leave us a link).

Merry Christmas!