Advent Fail

The title really sums it up.  I had such great intentions this year.  Even my last blog post was about how I was trying to make more room for Jesus this year, more studies, more Christ-centered moments with my family, and it was going so well....until the week before Christmas.  I had to follow up b/c I felt guilty leaving that last post, and people reading this thinking that I had done so well.  Reality hit, as did the craziness of last minute Christmas stuff, and I had to post about that as well because from the beginning I said this was about the good and the bad.
I have to say, our Jesse tree devotional was going great, and the kids really enjoyed reading the stories starting with creation and leading to the birth of Jesus then hanging the ornament.  To be honest this was the one advent activity that lasted the longest for us.  Don't be fooled though.

On Christmas Eve when I took this picture of our completed Jesse Tree, we had done the last 4-5 all at once.  I thought, well at least we did it.  We limped across the finish line, but we finished it up.  Our family advent calendar, was for the most part done, just lacking in a few days, but one of them was our RACK (Random Act of Christmas Kindness), which bothered me.  Oh well, 3 out of 4 aren't bad, and we did get our cookies delivered the local fire station on Christmas Day.  Don't even get me started on my Advent Study I was to be reading.  Ugh, fail,
I was thinking the other day about what went wrong, where the distraction came in, and I realized that maybe it was too much.  Maybe simple is better.  We try and fill our holidays with so much magic and perfection that it can't possibly reach our own expectations.  I think about the first Christmas.  Mary and Joseph rode into Bethlehem on a donkey...a donkey!  Ladies can you even imagine?  Even sitting in my car which has shocks and comfy seats was no fun at that point in pregnancy.  Then they get to stay in a stable (translation - barn).  Once again, 9 months pregnant, just rode in on a donkey, and she gets to not only sleep, but also GIVE BIRTH in a barn on some hay (if she is lucky) with all kinds of animals around her.  It's a far cry from the deluxe suites and birthing rooms we have here.  Then Joseph is not only her lamaze coach, but also her OB and her nurse.  I would have been in so much trouble as my husband would have been passed out on the floor with some animal licking his face I am sure.  Pretty sure there wasn't any sterilized tools in the stable or ice chips for her to crunch on.  Once Jesus is born, he is wrapped in cloth and laid in a manger.  A manger where animals typical eat out of.  Just the thought makes this germaphob shudder.  She didn't even have any wipes to wipe it down with first (gasp)!  It's truly amazing that both Mary and Jesus (and possibly Joseph) even survived the whole experience!  Yet that is how our Savior entered the world, and that is all the magic and perfection that Christmas really needs.  We can try and fill it with activities, visits to Santa, making cookies and treats, gift buying, parties and such, but really all we need is the baby in the manger.
I am going to try (repeat try) to remember this next as I plan our Advent season.  Keep it simple. Yes we will still have fun, but not put so much stress upon myself to create this "perfect" Christmas for my family.  I can't because someone already did many.many years ago.  You cannot create what already exists.

I bought ANOTHER Advent Devotional

The season of Advent is upon us.  Undoubtedly this is my favorite time of year.  The celebrations, the traditions, the movies, the food, all of it just makes me happy...most of the time.  I say that only because now that I am a grown up and a mom, there is a certain amount of stress and anxiety that comes with all of that too.  This is on my short list for what I am doing this month:

*Make sure that the angel gifts get bought, labeled, and delivered to each child's class (my son forgot to turn his in and didn't realize it until I pointed out that they were still in his backpack - luckily it wasn't the deadline yet).
*Buy gifts for family, friends, teachers, activity leaders, church staff, the DOG (yes I know - he is a family member in our eyes), and whoever else I suddenly remember last minute...depends of if I can turn off my shopping gene.
*Decorate our new house, and since it's a new house, of course we need a new tree, new decorations, etc. b/c the old ones just didn't look right, or we needed decorations for a banister, which we didn't have in the old house (I know, I know, my eyes are rolling at myself as I type this).  Also try to keep puppy from eating all decorations, including the elf.
*Celebrate my husband's birthday (has nothing to do with Advent other than it falls in the season).  It's a big one though, so we need to do it right.  You only turn 35 once!
*Volunteer at our local Family Services organization to help with gift distribution.
*Baking.....lots and lots of baking.
*Do daily (yes daily) activities which I planned out myself for our family Advent activity calendar.  Some are easy and helpful (put stamps on Christmas Cards) and some I am wondering if I just like to punish myself (painting ornaments - this will inevitably end up with someone mad that their ornament didn't turn out, they didn't find the color they wanted, spilled water cups with diluted paint running all over the table).  To add to that, we also have the chocolate Advent calendars, and the Lego Advent Calendar.
*Prep and co-direct our children's Christmas musical at church.  This has been in the works since August.  This last month is the putting it all together, getting the props, costumes, gifts for helpers, final rehearsals and finally the final show with a gift drive for the teens and elderly in the community.  This pretty much dominates my weekends in December.  Luckily I have a partner in crime that shares my stress...I mean joy! ;)
*Parties - oh the parties.  They really are fun, but at some point I am just glad when they are all done.  We have Sunday School parties, Children's Programs parties, Bible Study group parties, school parties, and work parties.  Like I said they are all fun, but being an introvert by nature, I am exhausted by the end of the month, and I just want to crawl into my bed and watch Dancing with the Stars/Greys Anatomy/Parenthood/Blacklist episodes all day.
*Almost forgot the elf!  Now we don't have the traditional elf on the shelf.  Our elf Charlie even looks different.  He just comes to share in the joy of Christmas with us, so my kids are able to touch, hold, and even play with the elf.  When he comes, they immediately start showing him all the holiday decor that is up, and this year my daughter even had him sleep with her the first night he arrived.  Now with that comes sporadic movement.  He moved 2-3 times today just due to the kids wondering if he would move while they were gone.  But he doesn't always have to move at night either.  I am not sure if it makes it better or not.  The true challenge this year, as I stated above, is keeping our puppy who likes to chew everything to bits away from Charlie.  There have been some close encounters, and he even had him in his mouth one time (I thought my daughter was going to lose her mind), but so far so good.

On top of this, we have all the family get togethers.  Now this is my favorite part.  Seeing all my family, eating delicious food, and just enjoying each others company.  We go to see family in Fredericksburg, TX the weekend before Christmas, then Christmas Eve we go to Denison to see more family.  Christmas Day we stay home and any family that wants to come over can do so and celebrate, but I am pretty much not getting out of my pajamas until after noon that day.

All this being said I was wondering if I was a glutton for punishment or just plain crazy when I saw an Advent devotional while browsing through Mardel's this evening.  I was actually looking for the devotional that our Sunday School class is doing, but they didn't have it.  I decided that I would just buy the other one on my Nook.  Since my husband had taken the kids to martial arts class, I decided I would browse around a little bit.  I kept coming back to the same devotional, Waiting Here for You.  I don't know if it was the song that kept coming to my head, or what, but I knew I wasn't leaving the store without purchasing it.  While in the store I kept telling myself that maybe I was over doing it.  I have the Advent devotional from Sunday School, we are doing the Jesse Tree as a family, and I also have the bible verses each day with our family activity.

When I got in the car, it hit me.  How silly I was to think that one more Advent study might be too much.  The season is about preparing ourselves for the coming Christ.  When I look at my schedule, how can I NOT make room to draw nearer to Him, to prepare my mind, heart, and soul for Him?  If anything else I NEED another Advent study.  All the other events of this month can take over and skew my priorities.  Not that any of them are bad, but they pull my thoughts and my time away from the true importance of this season.  A long, long time ago, I am pretty sure that Mary wasn't worried about lugging their tree on the back of that donkey, and the Wise Men themselves only brought only one special gift each for Jesus.  For Jesus, the Savior, Prince of Peace, son of God the Father.  And that was enough.  So while I am feeling the need to go out and buy one more present or decorate one more area of our house, instead I will try and fill my time with His word and preparing myself for the celebration His birth.

Happy Advent. :)