Sound the alarm -- advent is here!

It's late. And despite turkey tryptophan overload, I'm still eager. One hour until advent begins.

In the quiet of this dark house, I hear the raspy breathing of my dad as he sleeps, know my children are dreaming in their beds downstairs. Never one to make it to a sunrise, I'm chosing instead to savor the moonlight. And the gratitude of knowing that all these things are only thanks to God's tender love and devine mercy.

As Thanksgiving flows seamlessly into the countdown to Christ's birthday, I am thankful for all my blessings, all my challenges and all that makes my heart so full tonight and all through this season.

Wherever you are when you read this, I hope you can take just a minute to savor the silence and give thanks for whatever you find there. --Meg

(I'm also still eager to hear from you all! My neice Meghan, so sweet, so wise-beyond-her-years, is going to kick things off with this post-Thanksgiving reflection):

It's the day after Thanksgiving and already the houses in my neighborhood and around town are brightly lit, welcoming the Christmas season. It seems odd to me how so many people just want to get the season over with, stores start pushing the Christmas merchandise early, before Halloween in some cases. Even as young as I am, I admit that sometimes that's all I want to do, get the holiday over with, I normally begin Christmas shopping in September, or sometimes even earlier. But that's not what Christmas is about, Christmas is a time to be with family and friends, hanging out, singing Christmas carols, and most importantly, taking the time to remember what the season is really about. Taking the time to remember that Jesus was sent to earth as a baby so that one day, 33 years later, he could die on the cross for our sins so that we could live with him forever. Christmas is so commercialized these days that it's hard to remember that. But this Christmas season let's take time to remember what Christmas is all about. -- Meghan Johnston, age 16