Celebrating Advent is something that is fairly new to our family. Our church did not do this as I grew up, so I was quite intrigued when I learned of this through Ann Voskamp.
It is now a tradition in our home and one we eagerly anticipate. Anticipation and planning do not always go hand in hand. We have had a crazy year and with Thanksgiving being later this year, I wasn’t prepared. I have been sharing about it with others and then yesterday, on the first day of Advent, I realized that I did not have anything prepared to start.
By that I mean, NOT ANYTHING. AT ALL.
I still can’t find our advent wreath or the Cradle to the Cross Wreath.
I don’t have the ornaments printed or the materials together to do the craft…that should have been started yesterday. So, last night, as I realized that I was not ready, I decided that I am not going to let it stop me.
Because I have this crazy little personality problem that says…”you messed up, you missed it, can’t jump in when you are behind. You are going to have to wait until next year.” And then, “well, aren’t you a hypocrite…you have been sharing about this all week and you even said to not say yes to so much that you put your family last. You did it. You are a mess everywhere.”
I didn’t listen to that crazy little voice in my head last night. We had read The Greatest Gift first reading of Advent on the way to church, so I felt just a little better. We read the first day of Truth in the Tinsel. No tree, no candles, no wreath, no ornaments. Just focusing our hearts on the story and the message. Focusing on preparing our hearts this Christmas. 
Why do I share my craziness and failures with you? To encourage you that you are not behind and to encourage you to jump in right where you are. Wouldn’t it be better to do some than not any? Wouldn’t it be better for your children and you to prepare your hearts with what you do read than just skipping because you didn’t get prepared? And guess what? There will probably be a few days that we skip or just plain forget. I know that sounds horrible and I don’t want to forget, but life has a way of overtaking us and we get so involved that what we need to do gets pushed aside.
So, today is a new day. I am going to try to find the things that we love to make Advent special in our home. We are going to “officially” start on Truth in the Tinsel, although I see many days ahead, perhaps all, that we will just use the printable ornaments. Thank you for those, Amanda!!
If this is something new to you or if you already feel behind, I hope you won’t be discouraged. Jump in right where you are and make a huge impression on your children’s lives this Christmas!! Truth in the Tinsel makes it easy to jump right in…download the ebook, print it out and put it in a notebook to make it easy every where if you want, download the printable ornaments if you are not in the crafty mood this year or if life is just a little too overwhelming for you.
Use code ENCOURAGINGHOME for 20% off through December 25th.
The older kids and adults will want to read through The Greatest Gift and there are printable ornaments for that too. You can get this in hardback or kindle to download immediately.
There you go!! You are ready to celebrate Advent!!!
Do you celebrate Advent? What is your favorite thing to do?
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