Advent Highlights...awaiting the Light

This has been a lovely Advent all in all.  Yes, there were moments of stress as I got sucked into the whirlwind of shopping for the so-called perfect gifts for the myriad of people on my shopping list, moments of losing focus on the reason for the season, and even some moments of battling the darkness.  But I think I'm finally learning that it's OK not to be perfect, because we have a perfectly loving, merciful, and patient God who can consume our imperfections with a single glance, with a single ray from His heart burning with love and waiting for us to ask for His mercy.  That truth always brings me hope and shines light when things get dark in this heart of mine.

There were a few traditions--some old and some new--that helped make this Advent special and helped our family keep our focus where it belongs...  Here's a list of a few:

1) Making a renewed commitment to doing morning prayer with my husband and praying the rosary in the car with the kids on the way to school was a great way to start our days.  Striving to stay close to Mary, in general, is a great way to grow closer to Jesus.  As a sweet and silly sign of our love for Our Lady, we decided to place a scarf around our Mary statue in the backyard and sweep the snow away to keep her "warm."  Hopefully our love for her truly warms her heart.

Nathanael was my big helper to make Mary warm!  :)

I'm sure his genuine effort warmed Mary's heart more than the scarf.

It was also special to have the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the midst of Advent.
These rose-shaped cinnamon rolls are always a hit.  They are a lot of work, but so worth it!

2) Each week we picked a new "Secret Santa" within our family to remind all of us to do extra kind deeds secretively like the real St. Nickolas did.  Then we would try to guess at the end of the week who each person had and draw new names for the following week.


3)  The kids put straw in baby Jesus' manger when they were caught doing something kind, but they had to remove a piece when they misbehaved or whined, etc.  This was a concrete reminder that our acts of love can bring comfort to Jesus just like soft hay in His manger, but when we sin it hurts our Savior.  I hope we will have lots of soft hay for baby Jesus on Christmas day!

4) Decorating the tree as a family is always one of my favorite Advent traditions (well, two trees actually...we put the artificial one up first because I love to decorate the tree as soon as Advent starts, and then we cut a real tree later in the Advent season so that it would stay fresh and not drop pine needles all over the floor).  This year we gave away the angel for the top of the tree and chose a beautiful star instead, to remind us of the Star of Bethlehem and Jesus being the Light of the world.

5) The boys' school put on a beautiful Christmas program to help prepare our hearts for the joy of Christmas.

Our little "star" Nathanael with one of his best friends named Emily

Nathanael letting his light shine

Bow-tied Dominic had a solo speaking part in the concert, as well as playing the cello in the orchestra.

Joseph and Michael looking handsome in their red ties prior to the concert.
They are both becoming young holy men, and I am so proud of them.

The junior high and high school choir
(Michael is in the center with glasses; Joseph is on the top row, far right)

Joseph playing 1st chair violin in the orchestra.
This boy truly has musical talent far beyond his mom and dad.

6) But I would have to say that our evening Advent traditions were the most meaningful to me.  Each night for supper we would light our Advent candles, say the prayer for that week, and then eat the meal by candlelight.  Later in the evening, right before bedtime, we would gather again by the light of our Christmas tree and read our Advent devotional stories (one book had a Scripture meditation for the day, and another book had a traditional Christmas read-aloud story).  Some of the stories were truly touching and I hope the messages will bear fruit in our hearts for years to come.

My mom made this beautiful wood-burned Advent candle holder,
and this year we were able to make a homemade wreath from boughs from the trees on our property

Of course the kids thought that blowing the candles out was the best part!

Thank you, Jesus, for being our light in this dark world!  I hope this Advent season has made more room in our hearts for You and prepared us for Your second coming or whenever you may decide to call us Home to be with You!  Come, Lord Jesus, come soon!