Christmas Day, a new beginning

My wish is for peace - peace within me that might possibly effect family, friends, and everyone else I come in contact with. I don't mean a blissed-out, unconnected sense of peace, but peace that is grounded in every day, in the "ordinary." -- Gale

My wish is for my experience of advent to become the new ordinary. That the calm and easy joy I have felt all month long will last the new year through. Lord, watch over me, my family and my dear friends, keep us in your tender loving care! -- Meg

No more lives torn apart. That wars would never start. That time would heal all hearts. Everyone would have a friend. And right would always win. And love would never end. This is my grown up Christmas wish.... -- Amy Grant

Advent wishes (from "The Family Advent Wreath" by Liturgical Press) --
That we may be blessed with the spirit of simplicity that marked the birth of Jesus.
That we may be blessed with the spirit of joy that marked the teachings of Jesus.
That we may be blessed with the spirit of compassion that marked the healings of Jesus.
That we may be blessed with spirit of love that marked the life of Jesus.

CHILD OF BETHLEHEM, BLESS US WITH YOUR PEACE!

Merry Christmas everyone!

God's gift of the present

By Lillian Craze
“Yesterday’s a fading sunset; tomorrow’s a faint sunrise. So, shut the door on yesterday and throw the key away, for only today is there light enough to live and love. It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad. Rather, it’s regret over yesterday and fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are the twin thieves who would rob us of that Golden Treasure we call today, this tiny strip of light between two nights.”
-- Robert Hastings from The Station

Forget the presents. Be present.

This favorite quote reminds me to be present. In a busy time such as Christmas, where the joy of the season can be overshadowed by the burden of what wasn’t accomplished yesterday or what I’d like to accomplish by tomorrow, it is easy to lose sight of God’s gift of the present. I desire to let God’s light shine on the here and now and to notice – really notice – the gifts that are right in front of me.

What gift is God giving to me through my children today? Am I annoyed at their demand for my time because I’ve got things to do? Or can I slow down and look my four-year-old daughter in the eye long enough to see the sparkle, the wonder, the curiosity, the window to her sweet heart? Can I sit on the floor with my 16-month-old son and explore with him?

This Christmas season, I pray that I may I take the time and have the wisdom to receive my children as gifts and give them the lasting gift of my time and attention. I pray that I take the time to lovingly communicate with my husband and make time for him as well. And I pray that I might open my home to friends without fear that things won’t be in proper order or worry that I am somehow an inadequate hostess.

What can you do to be present? To shine in the light of today? I pray that your heart may be open to receive the gifts of God this Christmas and throughout the coming new year as well.

I offer all I am to the mercy of your plan

By Elaina Asay

Each December we read and reread the story of Christ’s birth. We almost know the scriptural account by heart. In modern life it is difficult to grasp the reality of life back in biblical times. What was it like to be Mary leading up to the birth? I close my eyes and imagine…

Citizens in the kingdom of Judea were ordered to enroll in the towns of their ancestors’ origin, so Joseph was required to journey 90 miles to Bethlehem, the home of his forefathers. Mary joined her husband on the long journey. Surely inspiration guided that decision so that the ancient prophecy of Micah and others might be fulfilled: the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. How terribly uncomfortable that voyage must have been for Mary, being great with child, riding ever so slowly on bumpy dirt roads. She must have been frightened and pleaded with God, “Please do not let me give birth on this dusty road.”

Passing through Jerusalem and going on to Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary searched in vain for a place to stay. Rooms were simple roofed enclosures with little privacy. Mary’s fear must have grown at each rejection. She knew her baby was coming soon. What was she to do? She and Joseph took shelter in a stable. Surely she thought, “How can I give birth here, among animals, with no women to assist me?” A rude, humble stable, but it offered privacy. The animals provided warmth a newborn requires. We can be assured that angels watched over Mary as she brought the Messiah into the world.

I have felt sweet peace as a precious baby emerges and breathes his first breath. I can picture Mary’s joy as she held her new child closely to her chest, marveling at the miracle. Prophecy had been fulfilled. Mary knew that her son, God’s Son, would belong to the world. Yet on that first night, Jesus belonged to her.


Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)
by Amy Grant

I have traveled
Many moonless night
Cold and weary
With a babe inside
And I wonder
What I've done
Holy Father
You have come
Chosen me now
To carry your son.

I am waiting
in a silent prayer
I am frightened
by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now. Be with me now

[chorus:]
Breath of Heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me, your holiness
For you're holy
Breath of Heaven

Do you wonder
As you watch my face
If a wiser one, should have had my place?
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan
Help me be strong
Help me be
Help me

Finding JOY in the most unlikely places

I found joy in the kitchen tonight. Yes, a stretch, I know... but it was just kind of sitting there, when I least expected it. Ok, I admit, I had to pull the reindeer magnet off the fridge to complete the set, but the candy cane and the ball jar top were in the mess on the counter, side-by-side, just waiting for me to notice. My first thoughts were -- J-O...JOY!

The photo is at right.

This Christmas, and all year, may you find joy when you aren't even looking.

"The little Lord Jesus is going to have issues"

Just down the road a few miles from our house is a tiny Methodist country church built by the world-famous Pennington (Seed Co.) family. It's white clapboard, with a New England-style spire and backs up to an ancient cemetery and a cow pasture and is just the place to view a live nativity.

We parked next to the pasture and as we climbed from the van, I cautioned the boys about low voices to respect the reverence of the event. "Look at the angels," I whispered, pointing toward the stable where three girls in feathery halos and brilliant white gowns were perched on the hay behind the holy family.

"What does the one on the right have?" Robby asked. "I dunno," I said. "Let's go see."

It turns out the angel seated at the right hand of our Lord was clutching a fist of hay. And as we drew closer to the heavenly scene, she unleashed it, all over the closest shepherd's head. In mock shock, he fell off his hay bale, knocking the sheep's lead line and irritating it into an angry bleat. Meanwhile, the upper-left angel was removing baby Jesus from his manger and started passing the doll around like 99 bottles of beer on the wall. "Stop that," said the first wise man, reaching for the poor baby and spiking it back down into its crib, "you can't do that or he's going to have issues."

Had we stumbled on the set of a movie revival for "The Worst Christmas Pageant Ever?" Which of the adults chatting over their hot cider were watching their sweet cherubim perform? I'll check with my local biblical scholar at church, but I feel confident hot chocolate drinking and cell phone texting are not historically-accurate manger activities. Good grief, you can't make this stuff up.

My first thought? Leave. Immediately. My second thought? Stay, play it out, this is going to be worth writing about. I did the closest thing to leaving I could which was shuffling the boys behind the creche to check out the animals. Redemption came quickly because these old fellas -- a sheep, a goat, a cow and a donkey -- were gloriously behaved. They all belonged to a local woman who in her retirement owns "Full Circle Farms." The animals there are all retired, too. Donkey Oatie was the coolest one. His massive ears flip back everytime you touch his head. Every time. We tested him.

The preacher tried to herd us into the sanctuary for a meal and another program, but we had only planned a stop-by and had definitely gotten our fix. Going to leave, it turns out that apparently, we hadn't made enough out of our evening. No keys.

The next 30 minutes were a blur of nighttime nature hike searching for the keys, flurry of phone calls to hubby to come get us with an extra set and then 25 blissful moments of just the four of us and two wicked games of hide-and-seek and Red Rover in the balmy 65-at-6 p.m. evening. We ended up under this monstrous pin oak, flat on our backs, marveling at the black, black night so far beyond all those stark spindly branches.

If it all sounds too good to be true... you can't make this stuff up... but it was.... Worry not, the boys dissolved into a fists-and-all wrestling match as Dad arrived on his white stallion to carry us home.

A Sense of Wonder

By Kerri Skiles
Some night before Christmas, when it is quiet, I will lie on the carpet under or near to the Christmas tree. It's not like sitting next to the tree, or on the couch across the room. The ground will be cooler of course, and hard too, and I'll likely get some odd ornament pieces sticking in my back. The tree is fake, it doesn't matter. The view from here is perfect. Every ornament is lit up, colors all around, and what I will feel is the wonder I felt as a child. This simple act, that would seem ridiculous at any other time of the year, it just makes sense, and it fills me with hope.

It only takes a minute

Five minutes. That's when the grandparents get here. Five minutes to finish Jeremy's birthday cake, make the salad, set the table, clean the back hall toilet, write the blog for tonight. Five minutes? Obviously this isn't all going to happen. Six days until Christmas? Obviously, it can't all get done.

I know myself and I knew it was coming. I am starting to panic.

But this year, there is a huge difference. I have committed myself to this blog and that means I am doing all I can to find advent in the ordinary. And it's working.

Last night at dinner hour, rushing, rushing, rushing, I stupidly raced into Walmart at 5 p.m. I needed more icing for the cake and sourdoll rolls for the Italian sausage. There were not a lot of happy people in Walmart. My children were three of them all the way home. Dinner wasn't ready, everyone was whining and fighting, I felt like a gerbil on a wheel; I'm moving as fast as I can but nothing's happening. I could feel the simmer go to a boil. I had to run out to the car and on the way back, I could hear daddy yelling through closed windows. I felt my heart sink. I felt deflated. The facade of a peaceful lead-up to Christmas was falling fast.

With one foot on the back steps, heading toward the house, I stopped. I took a deep breath. Looked up at the few stars in the dark sky. Said a quick prayer. Reminded myself that everything I love most in the world was right there in that kitchen. Adjusted my attitude like I was adjusting a too-tight bra and headed back inside. I wouldn't call it my favorite night of the year, but what might usually get ugly was definitely not.

You can do a lot in five minutes. You might not get the toilet clean, but you can give it up to God. I like to think I just did.

Simplify Your Christmas

By Anne Mistretta
I have been thinking about a statement my 4 year old made to my husband and how it could apply to this time of year. The statement was “Dad you are NOT perfect! Jesus is perfect!” (The conversation went from there but this is the part that struck me.)

I look and listen to so many people stressing over making every single bit of the holidays perfect – from shopping to gatherings to decorations to food, etc. So I got to thinking... we aren’t perfect and what does it really mean to me and my family to have a wonderful holiday season? Not perfect, but what is it that we enjoy?

Then I read a short idea in the book Simplify Your Christmas by Elaine St. James that I found worth sharing. Here's what she says: “If you take a poll, be open to changes you don’t expect. Several years ago my friend Henriette sat down with her husband and their four kids the first weekend in December. Each family member made a list of five things they liked and five things they didn’t like about last year’s celebrations. Then they each read their lists aloud to the family.
Henriette was shocked. Not one member of the family liked her plum pudding. Every Christmas for the past sixteen years she dutifully prepared her mother’s plum pudding recipe. It took weeks to assemble and was full of hard to find ingredients. Each year she made frantic trips to the butcher for the suet. Then she had to find a bank for the shilling, and a specialty store for the miniature airplanes, cars, rings, and other symbolic trinkets that were carefully hidden in the pudding.

She prepared it with such love, remembering all the while what a treat her mother’s plum pudding had been when she was growing up. But her kids can’t stand plum pudding. For years they mushed the steaming mound on their plates pretending to eat it, often not even bothering to look for the lucky shilling that supposedly would bring them wealth, or the miniature airplane that meant travel and adventure in the coming year. And somehow she’d never allowed herself to notice.

Now that the truth was out, however, she realized that even though no one liked it, she didn’t want to give up a tradition that was so dear to her. So she and the family reached a compromise. She would order plum pudding from the bakery. When they didn’t eat it, she wouldn’t feel offended – it wasn’t her love they were rejecting. And she got plum pudding without having to go through all the trouble of making it. Mom’s plum pudding is now the family’s holiday joke, but at least no one has to pretend to eat it.

Another family I heard from found out from their poll that the kids were tired of seeing The Nutcracker Suite every year. It was fine the first time or two, but then it got to be old hat. They wanted something different. Last year, they all went to a neighborhood theater production of Arsenic and Old Lace. It was fresh and new to the kids. The tickets were only fifteen dollars instead of fifty dollars, and they didn’t have to put on dress-up clothes and drive all the way into the city. With the money they saved, they had a family dinner beforehand at a nearby restaurant.”

So in keeping with St. James' sage advice, this year I made some changes that have completely simplified and relaxed me and the family. I have never enjoyed the decorating part so we only put up a minimal amount this year and are really enjoying it tremendously. We have not planned to do any of the 8 trillion things that are available at the holidays – instead we have spent time at home playing games, reading, sitting by the tree light and relaxing – we are all happier with less. We even missed church last Sunday--which I am not recommending–but there was something so peaceful in our extra slowness and togetherness that I know Jesus was present in our home during this time. My challenge to you all is find out what it is that really makes your nuclear family enjoy this time of year and do away with the guilt of all the rest.

The Little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head

By Mickie Ferrante
When our sons were little I covered a large shoe box with contact paper that looked like wood. Each time one of the boys did "a good Christian deed," they wrote it on a small piece of paper and we put it into the shoe box under the Christmas tree. Then on Christmas morning that was the bed for Baby Jesus. Their good deeds made his bed soft. As the boys got older they helped their dad make a wooden manger to hold the "good deeds" I am not sure who has that manger now, but over the years, it was filled with many a slip of paper scrawled with the sweet hands of four little boys.

Editor's comment: What an awesome substitution for threatening that Santa is watching so ya better be good or he'll put you on his naughty list. Turn the whole thing on its head to say, "We need baby Jesus to have a warm, fluffy bed. Let's fill that manger high...." Did you ever try to get them to catch you doing a good deed too, Mom?

No beautiful myth, no lovely folklore

You've seen Amy Gottschang slowly but steadily adding to her list of weblinks in the right-hand column. That has been her labor of love for this blog. She has the best blog radar, finds the coolest stuff, and her advent additions have been no exception. I asked her to send me her very favorite she has come across this year. I cannot tell a lie. At first I was a little puzzled. This piece, written by J.B. Phillips, seemed pretty basic to me. But then I re-read it and the words sunk in and I was moved by its meaning. And most of all, I really liked the different perspective. I also adore the webblog where she found it "reprinted," A Holy Experience. The woman who created A Holy Experience is a homeschooling, farming mom of 6 who happens to be an amazing photographer too. Really strong words, a few of her posts have just about done me in!

The post Amy selected is pasted below. To see it on A Holy Experience's website and read more, click this link:
Visiting with the Visitor

“We rejoice in the fact that God has actually been here — and that is one half of the meaning of Advent. That is why, behind all our fun and games at Christmastime, we should not try to escape a sense of awe, almost a sense of fright, at what God has done. We must never allow anything to blind us to the true significance of what happened at Bethlehem so long ago. Nothing can alter the fact that we live on a visited planet. We shall be celebrating no beautiful myth, no lovely piece of traditional folklore, but a solemn fact. God has been here once historically, but, as millions will testify, he will come again with the same silence and the same devestating humility into any human heart ready to receive him.” ~J.B. Philips

Father, we live on a visited planet... may we pause to keep company, to intimately visit, with You who has visited this earth. Do I have time for You? Am I opening my heart for You to come visit me?

To read J.B. Phillips's short story The visited planet
For children to perform a shadow puppet play this Christmas Eve of the coming of the Visitor

Each day is a new chance....

By Amie Meschi
Each night I have read the entries on the blog and I have been searching for something significant, earth shattering and eloquent to report. But I realized today that my preparation and path to God is very simple and is laying right in my arms snuggling and laughing every time I tickle him.

My son, Michael, is fascinated with God, angels and Noah's Ark and as he and I watched cartoons this afternoon, it hit me the magnificent gift that God has given me. I have two beautiful happy children. I have two funny little people that smile when I walk in the room and giggle at the silliest and simplest things. The gift gets bigger each day as I teach our children and more importantly, they teach me.

We have extraordinary days and days that we wished never happened, but each day, no matter how good or how bad, is a learning experience and a chance to do it better the next time. Each day is a chance to reflect and thank God for the things we did right and ask for forgiveness and direction for the things that did not go very well. Every day is a life cycle and journey in making my faith stronger.

This advent season has been especially revealing because it has given me the chance to truly understand advent and to understand that the gifts from God do not have to be eloquently expressed but just need to be said and appreciated.

The symbolism of the wreath

Contributed by Anne Mistretta
Maybe you've heard all of this, but it's always a great reminder that very little is random in religious symbolism. The wreath is more than just a four week countdown to the birth of Baby Jesus. Read to the end and see if you can find out what else the weekly lightings remind us of.

What does the advent wreath represent?
Evergreens – continuous life.

Circle of the wreath – no beginning and no end; the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ.

Pine cones, nuts or seedpods used to decorate wreath – life and resurrection.

What do the four candles represent?
The four weeks of Advent. Each week represents one thousand years, to sum to the 4,000 years from Adam and Eve until the Birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

The light also signifies Christ, the Light of the World.

What are the colors of the candles?
Three candles are purple and one is rose.

What do the purple candles represent?
Prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and good works.

What does the rose candle represent?
The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent to signify the rejoicing of the faithful – for the midpoint of Advent.

The progressive (one each week) lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming in the world and the anticipation of His second coming to judge the living and the dead.

Prepare ye

A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
-- Isaiah 40:3-5

Building on Joey's words from yesterday, I have been using my new camera to look for and capture God in the natural world around me. Since re-reading Isaiah recently, I have been on the lookout for for a picture that captures those words. I don't live in a desert, but our grass is dry and the pine wilderness across the street from our house has been beckoning from hour to hour--the sun rising behind it, the blue sky showing through it, the sun setting on it.

It was two mornings ago that I settled on a scene that showed me a glimpse of God. The moon was the closest it has been to earth in 15 years. Called a perigee moon, it appeared 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter. I hope you got to see it, it was really glorious, especially at moon set just before 7 a.m. To me, it looked like a hint of heaven showing over the bleak, cold landscape below. And it was a rich visual reminder to prepare, even (or especially) in the dryest, darkest wilderness of our lives.

Incidentally, I loved the homily at second Sunday of Advent mass last week. Monsignor said, "We're trying to make straight the path for the Lord, while the rest of the world is trying to make straight the path for Santa Claus. You can't change that... but we can recognize it. And we can put the path of God always first." Kind of sounds like a year-round, life-long concept, eh?

I'd love your comments on how you are preparing the way. And please feel free to send photos of your wilderness as well. (Mine is likely off to the right unless computer miraculously cooperates. :)

Seeing the unseen

By Joey Ferrante
"Finding Advent in the Ordinary" would be the perfect title for this piece. As we sat in mass on Sunday, our Priest, Father Ray Cadran talked about Advent and our preparation to find Christ in our lives. That got me thinking….

Charlie is seven and is starting to be skeptical as to whether or not there is a Santa Claus. He thinks his parents bring him the presents. This has also crept into his skepticism as to whether or not there is a God. He thinks that there might be a Creator, but how do we know his name is God? Kathleen and I have wrestled with how to tell him the truth. How do we explain that there really is a God in a way that will satisfy his world experience? He’s learned in school about his five senses and that things are experienced through touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell. He’s taking physical science classes. He’s learning to be a critical thinker and to ask “how do you know?”

I’ve tried the simplistic arguments of “how do you know there’s air? You can’t see it or taste it (unless you live in L.A.) but you can see its effects on the things around us.”

This has given us a new idea for a dinner table tradition. We have always asked about each others’ high and low experiences of the day. Now, at least during Advent, we’re asking what experiences we’ve had during the day that have let us see God.

There haven’t been any epiphanies at the dinner table yet, but two nights ago we said grace by the Christmas lights on the tree and the garland around the mantle as Nick, Emma and Charlie took turns reverently thanking God for keeping the world safe, for all of our friends and family and for all of the gifts that we’ve been given, respectively. It may sound ordinary, but Kathleen and I saw God in that moment.

The Christmas Box

By Jenny Arthur
My Mother-In-Law gave me the book The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans three years ago for Christmas and upon reading it once, I vowed to read it during advent every year. It is a quick read (about 100 pages), and I highly recommend it for all parents. It is a story of a parent’s “pure love for a child, manifested first by a Father’s love for all of his children.” What was the first Christmas gift? If you don’t know the answer or you just need an inspiring tale to remind you, this is the Christmas book for you!

On Amazon.com, the review reads as follows:
Richard Paul Evans originally wrote The Christmas Box as an expression of love for his two daughters, never intending for it to be published. Many Christmas seasons (and a rich publishing contract) later, this touching tale relates the meaning of Christmas in a profound but simple way. Rick, Keri, and their 4-year-old daughter, Jenna, are hired as caretakers and are welcomed into the home of Mary, an ailing widow, just in time for the holidays. Before long, it becomes apparent that Mary cherishes their companionship, and this young family begins to understand that their relationship to Mary is more special than any one of them could have realized. These tender relationships, fraught with real-life struggles, are the backdrop for unraveling a mysterious secret that gently propels the reader through this short story. Unlike most generic Christmas stories, Evans manages to bypass triviality, imbedding these pages with humble truth and emotion. This tiny treasure will cause you to rejoice in the blessings of the season while stirring up a childlike vigor as old profundity is revealed anew.

In a season often shrouded in selfishness and materialism, Evans reminds the reader that the only way that we can genuinely love one another is by accepting the greatest gift of love ever given--that of a Father who "so loved His children that He sent His son, that we might someday return to Him."

I’m happy to loan my copy to any of you who may enjoy it this Christmas season. My only request is that you keep a tissue close so you don’t get teardrops on my cherished book!

Merry Christmas and may God Bless you and yours this joyous season....

More fun 'round the wreath

The advent wreath has successfully taken center-stage this Christmas season. If I were honest with myself, I'd have to admit it's because boys=cavemen=fire=good, but I rather like to think that these sweet cherubim I'm raising up in the way they should go are filling their hearts with the light of the Lord.

I did this last year, but as I seem to be holding their attention a bit better this year (fire! fire!) this ritual seems destined for the Holiday Traditon Top 10 List. Every day when I get the mail, we fish out the Christmas cards and put them next to the wreath on the dining room table. After we light the candles, say the daily prayer and tuck into our hot, nutritious, garden-fresh, hand-prepared food (come on, I've set the tone here, let me keep the fantasy flowing, ok?) we take turns opening the cards (ooh, goody, something else to have to tally) and read what's going on with the family involved. Once they're all opened, we pause a moment to pray for each family. (Tonight Bob was with us and said, "We pray for the cards...." which for some reason was hilarious but for all reasons, went against the point of what we were trying to accomplish with the prayer in the first place.)

It sounds like a sappy email, but there comes a point where you realize what and who matters and how who you are today has been in no small part shaped by the people you've known. I love getting Christmas cards, if for no other reason than it may be the only word I hear from some friends and family the whole year long. Now I feel that, by praying for them, specifically and by name, they are with me in my heart every day. As an added bonus, it gives me a far-too-rare chance to set a good prayer life example for my kids.

Everlasting Gifts

By Lillian Craze
Recently something caught my eye in a hand-me-down Ladybug magazine from December of 1996. In the back, there was a Ladybug for Parents section with an article by Michael Schulman titled “What Money Can’t Buy.” Here are some excerpts for your consideration. Enjoy.

“This is the time of year, of course, when we all have presents on our minds. We look forward to watching our children’s joyful faces – eyes wide and bright – as they tear through the paper and ribbon we so carefully wrapped around our selections. As I prowled the toy store in search of something spectacular to give my daughter, thoughts of my friend Joe came to mind.

“Joe is a man of character – the kind of friend you can count on. I’ve seen him through many ups and downs during the years of our friendship – some of the downs quite serious, involving the deaths of loved ones and weighty financial problems. Yet somehow he has always retained his generous optimistic spirit; life’s storms cannot undermine his core of faith in himself, at least for long.”

Mr. Schulman goes on to explain that Joe’s relationship with his father “contributed profound to the man he became” because he received the gift of love from his father. Joe’s father owned a candy store and worked long hours there, often seven days a week. “He didn’t have much time for us to do things together,” Joe explained. “But I remember when I was a little kid – and even later when I was living on my own – that whenever I walked into his store, my dad got a look on his face as if the greatest person in the world had just arrived. His eyes lit up, and I guess mine did, too. I look back on those afternoons… as the best of times.”

The article went on to list “a different, and more meaningful, kind of gift list” that included:

The Gift of Awe
“In the book Earthly Paradise, the French writer Colette describes how she received the gift of awe from her mother, Sido.

“Sido’s great word was ‘Look!’ It could signify ‘Look at the hairy caterpillar, it’s like a little golden bear! Look at the first bean sprout…’

“Sido’s word was ‘Look,’ but in that word was a celebration of the beauty awaiting all of her child’s senses at every turn. Through the gift of awe, our children go out into the world in excited anticipation of what they might find there. Awe for natural beauty gives them a kind of harbor to return to when life’s obstacles seem overwhelming.”

The Gift of Ideals
“This is a cynical age, with few heroes and increasing uncertainty over values. Yet this holiday season, millions of us will sit in front of our TV sets and watch (again) the movie It’s a Wonderful Life… America’s infatuation with George Bailey is curious – and heartening… That simple movie’s thunderous message is that the measure of a life is the good it brings about…

“Our children need to believe in the possibility of living a wonderful life, that there are goals worth striving for, and that their daily ups and downs add up to something meaningful… When parents share the principles they live by, they give their children a head start on the road toward defining their own ideals.”

The Gift of Confidence
“Parents can foster confidence in many ways: by communicating their joy in their child’s strivings, regardless of ultimate success or failure; by assisting those strivings when necessary, but only enough so their child can still feel a sense of accomplishment; by taking their child’s projects seriously, whether she is lining up her stuffed animals in a perfect row or building a castle out of Popsicle sticks; by reminding their youngster that setbacks are a natural part of any worthwhile pursuit; and by retelling stories about persistence…”

The Gift of Love
“A bit more on my friend Joe: As I indicated, Joe’s father enjoyed his son and let him know it. But don’t think they didn’t have conflicts… Joe described his father as ‘a tough old guy who let me know when I was off the mark’… But even then, Joe never doubted that his father was on his side. That’s the essence of the gift of love. If our children come to feel that we root for them even when we find it necessary to say no, we can rest secure that we’ve given them a gift that will last a lifetime.”

To decorate or not to decorate?

Every year my hubby and I grouse and groan about when to get the tree out. It's an all-day affair because we're slow. And easily distracted. And we like to look at all the ornaments. And glue the broken ones back together. So the date is always up for debate.

Yesterday we were tired after a busy weekend out of town for Robby's soccer tournament. But we could have potentially put the tree up. Instead, thanks to an idea on an advent calendar Robby's Sunday school teacher sent home, I impulsively mixed up a few bowls of tempra paint and proceeded to trash our brand new plate glass living room window (so new the shades aren't even back up yet). It was an unholy mess, but the boys loved our "stained glass" holy family. Robby tried to paint something he found in our advent prayer book: "Child of Bethlehem, bring us your peace." (If our painting had a title, that would be it.) But that took too much brain power figuring out how to reverse all those letters on such a small palette, so we settled for a large, backwards "Merry Christmas" in hopes passersby can read it from the street.

If all that is a bit much for you and your rug, consider this neat advent craft... With brown and light orange stamp pads, use your kids' fingers to make thumb print baby Jesus mangers. Make a little orange print with the tip of the pinky for Jesus' head. Attach a brown thumb print below that to represent the swaddling. Use a fine tip marker to add details -- halo, closed eyes and smile on the babe's pinky-print head, lines on the thumb print to look like strips of fabric. Nice gift card for that aforementioned awesome Sunday school teacher! Here's a whole fingerprint nativity scene: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8305805

Wanted to show you our nativity window but no need telling you why it's not attached to this post. I think I can add it to the right-hand column of the blog though, look for it there. Speaking of the right column, I'm sure both of the above are on that Amy G. kid craft website she posted, but, umm, I can't, umm... oh brother! Hope you are having a blessed day!

The Little Flower

By Cindy Ferrante
As the Christmas season approaches, the general pace of life picks up as does our stress level! It is easy to get caught up in the commercial message, “bigger and more is better.” I think this season is a good time to reflect on the words of St. Therese of Lisieux or “The Little Flower.” Her mission is her words: “I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short and very new.”

She lived her life serving God in little ways. She hears our requests and intercedes with God on our behalf. It is known that if your prayer can be answered, she will send you a rose sign. “My mission, to make God loved, will begin after my death. I will let fall a shower of roses.” The following novena has been a source of strength and inspiration to me personally.

St. Therese, The Little Flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love. As God to grant me the favor I thee implore and tell him I will love him each day more and more.

(For Catholics or anyone interested, the above prayer, plus five Our Father’s, five Hail Mary’s, five Glory Be’s, can be said on five successive days. Before 11 a.m. on the fifth day --the fifth set of prayers having been completed--offer one more set of five of each prayer.)

Faith, Interrupted. Faith, Anyhow.

By Dina Niblock

I still relive the moment when I was told my newborn, minutes old, had Down syndrome. The moment I was suppose to be crying for joy instead was filled with tears of deep sorrow. Why? Oh, God, why? How could He do this to me? To my family. I was mad. Mad at Him. Then mad that I was mad. And yet. I have still ventured to church several times with my baby and toddler in tow. I still want my son baptized. I still want him to know the comfort of faith even as I question my own. So, somewhere deep inside, I must know that there is a plan. That God has a plan for us. That even if I still do not understand, that He will guide and comfort the both of us.

postscript: We wanted to post a picture of baby O. for you but (broken record) we are currently experiencing technical difficulties. My loss is your gain... if you want to hear more of the story and see pictures, check out her husband's incredibly well-written blog: http://downwithoz.blogspot.com/

Let peace begin with me.

By Denise Gunderson

All I want for Christmas this year is... peace. Yeah, I know that sounds hokey, like a beauty pageant answer, but I truly do! Having five kids, ages 2 – 9, our house is anything but peaceful. But how can I find peace in a world that is so darn busy! How can I find peace when I am constantly battling the clutter that accumulates on the counters, in my office and in my room and every other nook and cranny in our house? How can I find peace when I’m forever driving to and from school, kid’s activities, grocery shopping and other errands? How do I find peace when all I seem to be doing is keeping myself busy, busy, busy?!

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time when there were no cars, when dinner was found in your backyard, and there were no cleaning supplies, washers/dryers, homework, malls, restaurants or even computers! Can you even imagine that? Well of course that will never happen so I just have to figure out how to live simply and peacefully in a world of chaos. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ultimate answer to finding this peace. I think it is a spiritual journey you must take and work on every day.

But I can say that one small piece to the puzzle can be found in three simple words my 2-year-old tells me to do every day. They are “sit with me.” If you think about this, all he is asking me to do is take time out from whatever I am doing and just sit with him for a few minutes. That is exactly what Christ wants us to do. He wants us to take time out of our busy schedules and sit with Him just a few minutes every day. So this Advent season, give Jesus the best gift of all, give Him your time. Rest assured you will be filled with a few joyful minutes of peace!

O Come...

Contributed by Jessica Condit

Below is one of my favorite songs that helps get me ready for Advent.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

A different kind of abundance

By Lillian Craze

“…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
-- John 10:10

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
-- Matthew 6:19-24

Ah, the season of abundance and treasures. Even in tough economic times, there is sure to be abundance again this holiday season. Already the stores are stocked and decorated with all things glittery, shining and bright. Last week, my four-year-old daughter stopped in her tracks in Target and directed my attention to the rows of sparkling, twinkling reindeer lawn ornaments. Today, my one-year-old son looked up, transfixed, 'oohing' and 'ahhing' each time we passed beneath fake evergreen swags adorned with shining, colorful ornaments hanging from the ceiling of a department store.

And then there are treasures. My daughter has reached the age of acquiring a case of “the wants” for material things. Catalogs come in the mail. She intercepts them, looks through them and starts the requests. “Mommy, can we get this?” “Mommy, can we get that?” My answer is usually “Probably not,” or “We’ll see.” Not wanting to face “no” for an answer, she has started to ask, “Can I get that when I’m older?”

So, what’s a parent to do this time of year? A parent that professes a belief in Christmas being a celebration of the Christ child’s birth? I’m an adult and I’m confused. Is it a celebration of Jesus’ birth in a manger long ago and all that means to the world? Or is it a celebration of presents carefully (or desperately) selected, and beautifully (or hastily) wrapped and placed beneath a tree? How to shepherd my children through this season of abundance and treasures with pure hearts is a challenge to me; never mind getting into explanations of Santa Claus and where the jolly old man fits into the picture and whether or not he can fit down the chimney, find you if you’re traveling on Christmas or really know if you’ve been good or bad.

Last year as I was feeling overwhelmed and inadequate as a mother at Christmastime, I asked a friend with older children for support. She responded quickly and mailed me an envelope with some resources she had collected over the years. Among the items was a booklet with Advent devotions for children titled “Living Light was Born One Night” (www.creativecommunications.com). I decided to use this booklet and set about my house collecting items to make an Advent wreath to display on our dining room table. It wasn’t anything fancy and included items such as miscellaneous candles (including the unity candle from my wedding), a few pinecones, a couple angel figurines, and the Little People baby placed in our farmyard-set feeding trough lined with Easter grass. Not every day, but many days throughout Advent, my daughter and I would light the candles, read the day’s devotion, turn on Christ-centered Christmas music, sing and dance for awhile, and then pray and extinguish the flames.

I found it focused my heart on God’s gift of the living light of Jesus and pray it did the same for my little one.

I saw this on a Christmas card at IKEA....

By Krista Carty

Thanksgiving break. Today is the first day of a week off for the kids and, therefore, me. Sean’s new schedule is every Monday off. I’m insisting on a family day

We were going to go to the Statue of Liberty but my daughter has basketball practice until noon and we can’t make it in time for the last tickets. So, Sean and I put our heads together and came up with Family Christmas Shopping. Instead of me doing it online and signing everyone’s name, we’re all going to participate. Driving a distance to an outlet mall, where hopefully we will find something special for everyone on our list.

I put our chances of arriving home a happy family a little under 50 percent, but figure the odds at the Statue of Liberty weren’t much better. When we broke the news, the responses were “Can we buy stuff for ourselves?” and “Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!”

Day Two: All I was going to write about went out the window. What I came up with just kind of fell out of the rafters at IKEA. I saw this on a Christmas card there and it moved me to a different kind of advent posting.

“Hope is a gift for all people.”

These are my thoughts that followed.

Christ is our gift of hope. I believe He is God’s gift to all people because I believe every person on this earth is touched by Christ in some way. Sometimes, I get so caught up in trying to reassure myself that the orphaned child in Africa is touched by Christ and in making sure that I am truly thankful for all the luxuries in my life, that I forget about the simple, greatest gift.

God’s greatest gift to us is not our big homes, full plates or even adoring families. Christ is the greatest gift. This Christmas remember to unwrap Him, use Him, enjoy Him and give thanks for Him.

postscript: Krista said the shopping went great. Her recent-to-teenagehood daughter (and not much of a shopper) kept saying she couldn't believe how much fun she was having. Krista also said, "If you want to try family shopping yourself, the secret is make sure the trip is a replacement activity for something nobody wants to do... make sure your kids are old enough to wander around the store themselves or sit outside if they don’t want to go in... and most importantly, give everyone $10 for candy. EASY!"

A Gift for Jesus

By Anne Mistretta
Last year as I perused a local Christian bookstore for an Advent wreath that had some meaning, I came across this wonderful book--Preparing My Heart for Advent: a Spiritual Pilgrimage for the Christmas Season by Ann Marie Stewart. This book actually starts on November 1 with a daily bible study to prepare our hearts for the actual Christmas season and then December 1 thru Epiphany are daily devotions.

In one part of her book she suggests gift giving ideas--she takes the idea of giving only three gifts and gives them an even deeper meaning based on the gold, frankincense, and myrrh gifts.

“The gold present is something the recipient has always wanted and should be wrapped in gold paper. The frankincense gift should remind the recipient to meet God (a Christian book or CD) and is wrapped in white. The myrrh gift can be bath beads, soaps, lotions, shampoo, shaving cream, or anything that prepares the body and reminds the heart that Christ’s significance extends beyond the manger. Wrap the myrrh gift in dark paper.”

She also presents another option for the three-gift idea: “…give one prized gift, one practical, and one gift of time--such as a pair of tickets to an event to be shared with the giver.”

It might take some more creative thought but that can be the most rewarding when the recipient opens the gift.

She also suggests giving a gift to Jesus each year as we always have gifts for others but rarely focus on what type of gift we could give Jesus. Her suggestion is to “write on slips of paper what would please Jesus: more time with Him in prayer, helping a needy neighbor, loving a difficult person. [Other suggestions--attending Mass regularly, attending church sponsored activities as a family, patience with our loved ones, etc]. Put each slip in a box and wrap it. On Christmas Day, unwrap the gift to Jesus and try to live out these gifts in the coming days and weeks or throughout the year.”