Happy Advent!

Our "advent wreath".  Yes, it is a pie pan with a (fake) sprig of evergreen in it.
The fancy one I ordered from Etsy didn't arrive in time.
Come Christmas! Come!

Happy First Sunday of Advent!

Our very first family Advent celebration was a huge success! Two things made it work: the promise of cookies right afterwards, and it being very, very short.  Lily enthusiastically blew out the candle mid-way through, and we had to re-light it. She thinks any and all candles mean Happy Birthday! (This morning in church it was our turn to light the candles and she tried to blow those out too. ) Since Christmas is a giant birthday party for Jesus (with presents for us?), it all works. (Even though he was probably born in July, but anyway...)

Hopefully with a bit of reinforcement during the week the idea of being a light in the world, and of not striving for perfection, but rather, connection, will start to sink in around here. We could certainly use those lessons. It had been a pretty rough day, right up until the promise of cookies.  Daniel was pushing ALL my buttons (and Lily's too), and I was letting them get sore. There was a lot of eye rolling (always a bad sign).  A bit of grace was needed, so as nervous as I was to procede with a brand new, not-involving-toys-or-TV ritual after dinner, I'm glad we did.

Connection.

Lights.

 Happy Birthday!


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Come Christmas!

 by M. Maureen Killoran

No one is ever really ready for Christmas.

If we were really all prepared:

      If every gift we had contemplated had been obtained;

      If every present was beautifully beribboned;

      If all the goodies our friends deserve were baked and cooled, and stored just so;

      If each and every person we love was gathered for our celebration;

      If we never snapped at someone we care about, nor stopped short of being all that we could be;

      If our minds were 100 per cent loving and our hearts were 100 per cent generous;

They truly would be ready and truly we would not need Christmas quite so much.

So come, Christmas, most needed of seasons. 
Come with the reminder that love does not depend on Perfection but on willingness to risk connection. 
Come into the unready manger of our hearts

That we may feel the warmth of new life 
     

 And give flesh to the promise of hope 
     

 That cries to bring healing into our world.

 Come Christmas! 
            

Come, Love, 
            

Come, Hope. 
            

Be born in our unready hearts 
            

On this silent and holy night.