Advent Begins

Yesterday was the first day of advent... the time of year when we count down in anticipation of the coming celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. This year I made advent stockings to help the kids get an idea that this time of year is extra special. There is a "special treat", as Ben calls them, in each stocking and every night after dinner he gets to pick the appropriate stocking and dig out his treat. In addition, we are also doing an advent tree and a bit of liturgy each night. We're hoping it will be a lot of fun for the kids each year. I, personally, am already getting really excited for Christmas and all it's festivities this year.

“When I think of Christmas Eves, Christmas feasts, Christmas songs, and Christmas stories, I know that they do not represent a short or transient gladness. Instead, they speak of a joy unspeakable and full of glory. God loved the world and sent His Son. Whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. That is Christmas joy. That is the Christmas spirit.” Corrie ten Boom

“It is in the old Christmas carols, hymns, and traditions—those which date from the Middle Ages—that we find not only what makes Christmas poetic and soothing and stately, but first and foremost what makes Christmas exciting. The exciting quality of Christmas rests on an ancient and admitted paradox. It rests upon the paradox that the power and center of the whole universe may be found in some seemingly small matter, that the stars in their courses may move like a moving wheel around the neglected outhouse of an inn.” G. K. Chesterton