Beatiful Christmas: Beautiful Traditions

“Let every heart prepare Him room.”
–Joy to the World

It’s my turn to share about how I plan to celebrate a Beautiful Christmas this year!

Anticipation.

It’s my favorite part of Christmas.

It’s what Christmas – Advent – is all about.

Advent is defined as: “An arrival or coming, especially one which is awaited.” It’s meant to be a season of Anticipation.

When I was young, my Mom crafted a countdown to Christmas banner out of some fabric, some string, and 12 Tootsie Rolls.  Twelve days before Christmas, she would hang these on the window for each of her six children and each day we would eagerly unravel the string and pop a fat Tootsie Roll in our mouths.  Tootsie Rolls have never tasted so good.

One more day closer to Christmas.  Hurray!

Somehow I have found my tune changing through the years.  Instead it sounds something to the tune of:

One more day closer to Christmas. Ugh.

My anticipation for what’s to come has often been replaced by a dread of what’s still to be done.  Visions of sugar plums dancing in my head are replaced by imaginary checklists of what is yet to be decorated, baked, wrapped, purchased, mailed, taped, cleverly and engagingly written, packed or __________ (you fill in the blank with any number of verbs).

{Does anyone hear what I’m saying?  Can I get an amen?}

I don’t believe this is the way it was meant to be.  How did Anticipation turn into Dread?

How did the Joys of the Celebration become a checklist of Things To Be Done?

This year I committed to doing things differently.

With simplicity and purpose.

So in an effort to slow this season down and make each moment count, I purchased an advent calendar.

And I created a list of ways to prepare for and celebrate this season of Advent.  Of Anticipation.

And each day the boys reach their chubby little fingers into those boxes and pull out a tiny slip of paper that shares just ONE way that we will celebrate Advent that day.

Like this:

And this:

(We started this tradition from Germany last year.)

And we even did this:

(There were many other fun things to see at our town’s annual Christmas parade, but watching my boys faces was my favorite.)

And of course this:

(This Nativity scene holds special meaning for us.  My husband purchased it on a missions trip to Africa.)

We’ll also soon be reading this:

And each day we find just ONE way to celebrate the coming of One that is awaited.

I feel like I’m that kid with the fat Tootsie Rolls again.

One more day closer to Christmas.  Hurray!

It’s funny.  I should not have been surprised when the kind woman next to me on my plane trip home from a girls’ weekend yesterday pulled out a slip of paper from her purse.

“I heard these words this morning and just needed to remember them today.”  she said.

Scribbled in crayon were these words: “Let every heart prepare Him room.”

Yes.  THAT is what Advent is all about.

December 25 can’t come soon enough.  But in the meantime we prepare Him room…with great anticipation.