One of my favorite albums to listen to at Christmas is Carrie Underwood’s. The first track is called “Let There Be Peace,” and it’s always brought me back to center in the midst of the holidays because it reminds me that there are so many who aren’t at peace. During the holidays that is true …
Advent is a season of waiting and preparing. For those of us who celebrate, we find comfort in the predictable pattern of lighting the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love knowing that Christ will come again, but for those characters in the story there was so much waiting and preparing not knowing what would …
This week, we were invited to build and create our own Advent wreath. Our five-year-old make a plan for how the wreath would look and created a pattern with the berries. Our nine-year-old decided that it didn’t matter what order the greenery was in because it was all going to be below the candles. As …
Advent always starts with hope. The day that Advent begins rotates. The temperature varies from Advent to Advent, but this season of waiting and watching always starts with hope. This year as we decorated our tree and trimmed our house with greens and lights, we were also chasing a toddler around. It made the whole …
Last Christmas before the morning light had dawned, we found out we were pregnant. We carried this hope of new life with us as we waited and watched praying this new life would join our family safely. So this Christmas as we held her, the miracle of the story of the Christ Child was a …
Last night was the darkest night, the most time we will go without light for the whole year. Each day from here on out, we will gain just a little more light each day. Isn’t it interesting that we start gaining more light just as the Light of the World is about to come? As …
When we decorate for Christmas, it take a little…rearranging. We have to move things around just a bit in order to prepare room for our Christmas tree. We have to stash some mugs and plates in the garage to prepare room for the Christmas dishes. All of these preparations make room for our house to …
I didn’t realize over the weekend how spotty my reception was until we came back down the mountain and my phone started ringing with calls encouraging me to buy this or that and my messages started to buzz to alert me to upcoming Cyber Monday deals and breaking news alerts. Normally. I don’t notice how …
This year, we spent Black Friday at Dollywood. Our oldest two have been many times. Sam and I had been before, but never together. The youngest three had never been to any kind of theme park. Throughout the day, I found myself smiling and laughing so much that my cheeks hurt, watching a four-year-old experience …
For so many of us, the Advent season is a rush of celebrating with friends and family. In that rush, we often miss time to wonder and awe at the incarnation of the Light of the World coming to dwell among us. As we move from one celebration to the next, we find ourselves weary …
