When Preparing to Prepare Pays Off...

Advent

A season of joyful waiting

      of (sometimes) quiet anticipation

               of prayer

                         of penance

                                    and of preparation 

  as we ready our hearts and homes to celebrate 

       the commemoration of Jesus' arrival in the manger 

       in Bethlehem

               His coming again at some point in the future

                          and our every day opportunities 

                          to embrace encounters with Him 

                          in our interactions with others 

                          and as recipients of immeasurably grace.

Last night before bed I readied our home for this beautiful liturgical season by cleaning and organizing parts of our house before setting out supplies for some of our family's Advent traditions. 

Then, today, as my children delighted in each tradition, I smiled with gratitude and joy.  My efforts to prepare paid off with warm memories in the making that focused us on faith.

Among other things, a basket of instruments...

...had us ringing in the New Liturgical Year!

{Disclosure: Some of the links which follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

Our Nativity Playset...

...brought squeals of "I remember that..." and immediate unfolding of play.

Our Advent Chains...

...enticed eager hands to begin our Christmas countdown, and, later, inspired all of our hands to set to writing out notes for our first Advent Chain Work of Mercy for this season and to fixing food for one another. 

And, yes, this year we do have TWO Advent Chains, because one child wanted to create a personal mini-one.

I am all for self-starters who seek to spread more love and kindness while preparing for coming of Christ.

A table set for the first day of the Liturgical New Year prompted the children to begin filling "Jesus' manger" with hay when they made small sacrifices.  It also invited them to offer coins for a local Respect Life concern.  (We no longer Count, Pray, and Give with the annual Baby Bottle campaign, since the children have grown out of that, but we still eagerly do the giving.  In fact, the children were excited this past Friday after Holy Hour and Mass to see the baby bottles out and could not wait to take one home!)

Because it is not Christmas yet, many of our nativity sets are not in their full glory  Instead, on our table Joseph was sleep "at home" and Mary was hearing God's plan from the angel Gabriel.  This reminded the children of Bible history and also prompted them to remember our Star from Afar, which we use a little differently. Thus, throughout the day, they kept their eyes pealed for the star among a mess that we could fix.

My daughter found it and is eager to have us all clean where it was tomorrow so she can re-hide the star in another part of our home that needs help.  (There are plenty of those!)

The living room table, thankfully, is not one of them.  Instead, last night, I cleaned it and, then, set supplies on it.  So, this morning the children were excited to discover our Works of Mercy Wisemen back in action there reading not one, but THREE books to inspire us.

Minutes later, the Wise Men were "whispering" in ears about how we could actively prepare our hearts for Our Lord through action today, remembering The Christmas Story and thinking about what the world would be like If He Had not Come. 

The books also offered us a cozy read together time later in the day.

In afternoon, spotting our Advent Wreath with a Jesse Tree ornament inside reminded the children we still needed a branch to serve as our Jesse Tree.

So out into the woods we went to find one...

Later, after reading related Old and new Testament verses for the day, as well as the book Genesis, my youngest hung our first ornament.

He was also thrilled to have it be his turn to light the Advent wreath.

And I was equally delighted with the rapt attention and occasional laughter our first candlelight reading from Bartholomew's Passage brought.

Read togethers, our St. Andrew Novena, our Jesse Tree, Advent Wreath time, and bedtime blessings sure made a beautifully blessed close to our day for the children and me.

Now, before my own bedtime as I reflect on our day, I think about how much faith, fun, and family time were shared due to relatively simple preparations in our home.  I also imagine how much more amazing the results of preparing our hearts will be.

Already, blessings and grace are apparent in this life - some causing us to literally sing out with joy.  Envision how much more abundant they may be one day if we stand in Our Lord's presence in Heaven.  It's almost impossible to conceive the rapture.

Truly, if preparing some things around the house brings moments of joy, peace, and prayer to the present, imagine what preparing our hearts can do for eternity?

May each of our preparations this season pay off in joy here as a foretaste to triumph that awaits us if we keep welcoming Jesus into our hearts and extending His love to those around us.