It is the eve of Advent. My home and my heart are ready. I laid out the decorations today and not just the Christmas decorations, mind you.
No.
The Advent items that serve as a reminder to my soul of what this season is really about. How is it that I forgot them for so many years?
I’ve been a Jesus follower since I was four years old, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that my heart began to long for a way to escape the materialism of Christmas and go back to the roots of a faith-filled holiday.
Coming.
Yes.
That is what it means after all. Advent is the time when we remember His coming, as Ann Voskamp says so beautifully,
“He who carved the edges of the cosmos curved Himself into a fetal ball in the dark, tethered Himself to the uterine wall of a virgin, and lets his cells divide, light splitting all white… The mystery so large becomes the Baby so small, and infinite God becomes infant.”
A few years ago I picked up her Advent devotional: The Greatest Gift. I’ll be reading it again, but this time using the family version with my children.
Last night, I started telling Maddie the story using a peg doll nativity that she can safely hold and play with. I told her about Mary and the angel, using the dolls to illustrate the scene. It was special. My heart radiates with joy when I think about getting to share the most important story in the world with my young daughter.
We will hang ornaments each day on our Jesse Tree, creating a visual reminder of the story of Christ’s coming from Adam to Jesus.
It used to be when I read the gospel of Matthew, I would skip over the boring genealogy in chapter 1. Now I am awestruck when I read it, amazed at God’s divine intention all the way from the beginning.
He gets his way and Christ comes from the lineage of broken humanity: liars, cheaters, adulterers, prostitutes, and foreigners. Each one grafted in to His great redemption story.
We’ll light a candle, too, each night on our Advent wreath as a reminder that we are drawing closer to His coming, or as I told Maddie today, “the best birthday ever.”
Observing Advent is a step I am taking away from the commercialization of Christian holidays and toward creating a meaningful liturgy for my family that recognizes the holy seasons of Christianity. For too long I've celebrated the most holy days of my faith following the traditions of our culture - Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, and cinnamon rolls - while leaving behind the observances that have been a part of the Christian story for generations.
Not anymore.
I'm longing for something more for my family and I'm hopeful it will change the Christmas experience for me and my kids forever.