Every year I hear folks bemoaning the secularization of Christmas and how commercialism has overtaken what used to be a Christian holiday. I read news stories about which retail stores are promoting “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” and which groups and organizations are boycotting those stores for choosing to greet their customers in one way or another. People label it the “war on … [Read more...]
GIVEAWAY (Now Closed): 100% Beeswax Advent Candle Making Kit from Toadily Handmade
Halloween is over. All Saints Day and All Souls Day are passed. We're in November. Has it hit you yet? In the blink of an eye we'll be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Advent will sneak up on us and then BOOM, it'll be Christmas! If you're like me, you've just realized that the holidays are right in front of us. And you probably haven't ordered your Advent candles, yet. Well, you're in … [Read more...]
Our Year in Pictures: 2011!
I think Daniel and I both agree that 2011 was our best year to date. Here’s some highlights (which turned out to become a monstrously long post with mostly pregnancy pics, oh well). January Daniel got a new job and we hoped to get pregnant again. Benjamin continued to amaze us with the joy he brought to our world. February In February we celebrated Benjamin's 2nd Birthday … [Read more...]
Ero Cras
Emmanuel Rex Oriens Clavis Radix Adonai Sapientia ERO CRAS: I will be there tomorrow. I love a good old timey Latin Advent acrostic! We are having a relaxing Christmas Eve day before going to my folks house for Christmas Eve dinner. Our sweet boy has been dying to put the ornaments on the tree for weeks and will be so excited for the chance to decorate it tonight. … [Read more...]
…That Mourns in Lonely Exile Here…
I wrote this reflection last year during Advent, but never posted it. Here 'tis. ----------------------------------------------------- O Come, O Come, Emmanuel has always been my favorite carol. I love the ancient chant-like melody and the images it conjures: monks singing by candlelight and waiting to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World while a cold, dark winter lingers on. It … [Read more...]
Advent/Christmas Books and Music
Since Benjamin was born I've tried to collect books and music that are special for Advent and Christmas. My mom was always very intentional about Advent even though my parents are Protestant and we always listened to special music and had an Advent wreath. Here are some of our favorites: MUSIC Handel's Messiah: This is the music that I remember listening to the most during Advent and … [Read more...]
First Advent: Repost
This is a repost from last year of a piece I wrote for our beloved Landing Literary Society in Waco about what pregnancy taught me about Advent and I'm thinking of sweet friends who are expecting this year during the Advent season (hi, Jen, Jeni, and Emily!) ---------------------------------- I was huge. Not just big—gigantic. Even before I entered my third trimester, well-intentioned old … [Read more...]
O, Christmas Tree!
This morning we continued the family tradition of going to the Bavarian Christmas Tree Farm in Monticello to cut down a Christmas Tree with Daniel's parents and sister. Benjamin was been asking to go cut down a tree since last Christmas when he looked like this: My, he's precious in that photo! I think he's gotten much sneakier and sillier over the past year as you can see: Sweet … [Read more...]
Advent Candles and Resources
“The liturgical year is not an idle discipline, not a sentimentalist definition of piety, not an historical anachronism. It is Jesus with us, for us, and in us as we strive to make His life our own. It is goad and guide to the kind of personal spirituality that is worthy of the Jesus whose commitment to the Word of God led Him all the way to the cross and beyond it—to Resurrection.” (Joan … [Read more...]
My Attempt to Beat Summer
So I'd just like to brag and say...I've been a super good sport this summer. I'm almost 9 months pregnant in August and I feel that I have kept griping about the heat to an absolute minimum...most of the time. But it's starting to get to me. Big time. I have mentally prepared myself for more miserable heat until next Monday but after that I'm throwing a pregnancy hissy fit if it hasn't started to … [Read more...]
