Preparing to Prepare

I've been thinking a lot about Advent this morning, partially because it started yesterday, and partially because I've never really dug into the idea before. That seems a little crazy, since I've worked in a church the past 4 years, but for the Church, the Christmas season is the busiest [well, along with Lent/Easter]. The month of December is a flurry of events, along with the general madness of the Christmas season- rushing around to find the best deals, overspending, and stressing about how to make all of it work along with your normal routine. The intentional moments of pausing and reflecting on the coming of Christ tend to get lost, or become blips in our schedules- "Christmas is coming- the birth of Christ- and the return of my large family to my small house;" "Christmas means hope has come to the world- a hope I'll need to cling to as I sort through my credit card bills." Trying to mix Advent with the commercial Christmas season can feel like blending oil and water, and it can leave you even more stressed out than you were before you started.

This year, I'm intentionally celebrating Advent- walking through the daily scriptures, focusing on celebrating the coming of Christ, rather than the coming of "Christmas." Instead of spending hours shopping for items I can't afford that family members really don't need, I'm going to pull a page out of Martha's book and get crafty with what I already have, in a way that celebrates the gospel of Christ [a story of love and care for others] rather than the gospel of Santa [a story of love and care for stuff]. I'm intentionally slowing down this season, instead of trying to cram it all in.

If you want to follow the devotions I'm going through, you can check out our church twitter feed for brief daily updates [@groveonline]. I'll also post thoughts on the process here as I'm learning things and reflecting on the season [there also might be a few posts about the craft projects I'm doing, too, in case you're interested]. It should be an interesting journey, and it'll also give me a chance to get back in the habit of blogging [I've been incredibly neglectful this year].