Honoring Advent with our Christmas tree
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is part of our journey toward Christmas. Now that I have been pregnant and been overdue I feel a deeper connection to what it means to be waiting...to be waiting for God's return in our lives somehow, to be waiting for Christmas with all of it's preparations (nesting perhaps?) and waiting ultimately for God's return to the world in a second coming kind of way- so then waiting for a different kind of reality that we can't quite comprehend (sounds like having a child!). So like I said, Advent to me is about waiting anxiously, counting off days, dreading changes and getting excited about them as well.
S and I try to observe Advent with some of our own traditions that we are bringing into our home. I hope in the next couple of weeks to share various holiday projects but also some of our Advent traditions... The first is our Christmas tree...
Theoretically, we might wait until Christmas eve to put up the tree, after all, Christmas doesn't technically start until Christmas. But give me a break, we live in our culture and are going to participate in parts of it too...so we are into the Christmas tree...but in order to bring some Advent to it, we decorate it in stages. Each week we put a new "layer" onto the tree so that each week it is more and more complete.
Week 1- Lights- because leaving it empty doesn't do the poor thing any favors.
Week 2- Ornaments
Week 3-Finishing touches, ribbon, garland,
Week 4- gifts underneath- angel or a star on top.
So now we have the lights on our tree! Frankly, she is beautiful!
S and I try to observe Advent with some of our own traditions that we are bringing into our home. I hope in the next couple of weeks to share various holiday projects but also some of our Advent traditions... The first is our Christmas tree...
Theoretically, we might wait until Christmas eve to put up the tree, after all, Christmas doesn't technically start until Christmas. But give me a break, we live in our culture and are going to participate in parts of it too...so we are into the Christmas tree...but in order to bring some Advent to it, we decorate it in stages. Each week we put a new "layer" onto the tree so that each week it is more and more complete.
Week 1- Lights- because leaving it empty doesn't do the poor thing any favors.
Week 2- Ornaments
Week 3-Finishing touches, ribbon, garland,
Week 4- gifts underneath- angel or a star on top.
So now we have the lights on our tree! Frankly, she is beautiful!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and entering the giveaway. This post it so touching and I love what you had to say about being overdue and waiting and the connection to God. Merry Christmas to you!
ReplyDeleteInteresting tradition. At first I thought you were going to say you only put "Advent" decorations on or something, this makes waaaay more sense, and visuals are always good for added anticipation :) Growing up my grandmother always put her tree up on December 13th (because this is what her family had observed). She figured the feast of St. Lucia patroness of light was a good time to light her Christmas lights.
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