Monday, November 30, 2009

advent.

Welcome to my Advent blog! At my house, Advent is a pretty big deal. During the month leading up to Christmas, my family has a time each day that we set aside to celebrate Advent. As I was trying to think of a way to share some of our favorite traditions with friends in the midst of finals, I had the idea of writing a blog each day during Advent this year. So here we go!

Why do we celebrate Advent? The word “advent” literally means “coming” or “arrival.” So during Advent, we celebrate the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We honor him for coming and making his home among us and abiding in our hearts by His Spirit. In our anticipation of the Messiah’s coming, we are creating a space to wait on him, seek for him, and prepare our hearts to receive him. An intentional time for Advent during each day allows us to take a break and remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

Another important part of Advent is that it draws us into community. We do things like lighting candles, reading devotionals and Christmas stories, singing Christmas carols, and eating Christmas cookies. Advent is really all about joining together to wait on the Messiah.

So, if you’re interested in taking the journey through Advent with me this year, come read my blog each day! I would encourage you to set aside just ten or fifteen minutes each day in which to focus on the coming of the Messiah. Close your books, light a candle, turn on some Christmas music, and remember what Jesus has done for us. If you choose to make my Advent blog part of that ten minutes, that’s great! I would love for people to submit lots of responses too! Since Advent is about community, everyone should feel free to contribute whatever they are meditating on each day. The more discussion the better!

I know that we’re all busy during this season, but I will also try to organize a few meetings each week to celebrate Advent as a group. I’ll let you know more about that later.

One last thing – I feel obligated to say that this blog would not be possible without the help of my lovely twin, Mary Love, and my mom, who is basically the queen of Advent.

Tomorrow is the first day of Advent so check back soon!