Thus, I have decided to prioritize six things in the coming week to help me and mine slow down and set aside time to better prepare our hearts and home for the coming of Christ.
I am sharing my list now in case you could use a little inspiration for ending Advent intentionally.
1. Put confession on your calendar.
Ready or not, Christ is coming, and confession is an important part of preparing room for Him in our hearts.
Decide right now when and where you're going to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation before Christmas and be sure it happens.
2. Make Small Sacrifices for the Christ Child
Advent is known as "Little Lent" and is an ideal time to focus on prayer, alms, and sacrifices. Each day, commit to making at least one small sacrifice.
If you happen to have a copy of Marta and the Manger Straw, reread it and, perhaps, set up a creche with some straw nearby. When anyone in your house makes a small sacrifice or does a good deed, add a piece of straw to the creche to soften the place for Jesus. Then, on Christmas, lay a baby Jesus figurine in the creche.
We have done this Advent activity in the past and found it a fruitful activity. This year, I almost opted to let it go, but have realized we could all use a tangible reminder of where our focus should be even on our busiest of days, so the manger will return to our table this week!
If you happen to have a copy of Marta and the Manger Straw, reread it and, perhaps, set up a creche with some straw nearby. When anyone in your house makes a small sacrifice or does a good deed, add a piece of straw to the creche to soften the place for Jesus. Then, on Christmas, lay a baby Jesus figurine in the creche.
We have done this Advent activity in the past and found it a fruitful activity. This year, I almost opted to let it go, but have realized we could all use a tangible reminder of where our focus should be even on our busiest of days, so the manger will return to our table this week!
3. Consider being a Christkindl
If you and yours have been headed in different directions throughout Advent, a wonderful way to refocus on one another while also building a spirit of giving is through the custom of having each family member secretly draw the name of another for whom to be a Christkindl.
Before Advent, my daughter asked when we were going to begin this custom of doing secret kindnesses for another again, and I said, "later".
Well, "later" got later and later and, with all the commitment we've had, our family has been in too many different directions, so I've decided that this week is the perfect week to once again promote familial kindness, thoughtfulness, and joyful suspense with Christkindls!
4. Dig into some spiritual reading and prayer.
Even if life is crazy-busy, I bet there you might spend five to ten minutes daily on mindlessly staring at or scrolling a screen or otherwise wasting time.
Why not give that time to intentionally letting God speak to you through prayer or spiritual readings? Even if only for minutes a day, picking up an Advent reflection, a passage of Scripture, a spiritual memoir, or some other spiritual reading - or simply pausing to pray - can have such a soul-changing effect.
Here, we've been doing okay with our St. Andrew Novena, but have fallen a few chapters behind with our nightly Advent readings of Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent , and I have not been picking up my own spiritual reading each day, so I am going to make time to catch up with our Advent read aloud as well as with my own spiritual reading. I might even make a daily spot of tea, hot cinnamon almond milk, or hot chocolate and invite the children to choose their own spiritual reading to enjoy in quiet company.
5. Serve with a smile.
Whether you are simply serving your family or headed out to do charitable works in your community, smile and think, "I get to...", not "I have to..." What a gift it is to be able to model ourselves after Christ through serving others. What a blessing it is to do so with love and joy.
Singing at a nursing home, taking care of a friend's babies, packing holiday meals, slogging through dishes and laundry... with "fun" service and more mundane ministrations, having the right attitude makes a difference. I plan to choose - and encourage my children to choose - to serve with joy and thanksgiving.
6. Just say no.
While we want to model after Mary's beautiful "yes" to God, we also need to remember that everything we say "yes" to is a "no" to something else.
So, remember to just say "no" to some things in order to prevent yourself from becoming so overbooked and overburdened in the last days of Advent that your busy out the beauty of this season.
As a practical measure, get out your calendar, mark off "have to" commitments, then pencil in a few special Advent outings or observances - particularly penance services, charitable works, and family time.
That done, give yourself permission to say "no" to anything else that may distract you from a commitment to live the end Advent meaningfully. For, while it may be hard to turn down good things, some of your "no"s might help you better say "yes" to what matter most.
I know that I am entering into the final portion of Advent ready to say "yes" to better preparing my heart and home for Christ. I pray you are, too!
Singing at a nursing home, taking care of a friend's babies, packing holiday meals, slogging through dishes and laundry... with "fun" service and more mundane ministrations, having the right attitude makes a difference. I plan to choose - and encourage my children to choose - to serve with joy and thanksgiving.
6. Just say no.
While we want to model after Mary's beautiful "yes" to God, we also need to remember that everything we say "yes" to is a "no" to something else.
So, remember to just say "no" to some things in order to prevent yourself from becoming so overbooked and overburdened in the last days of Advent that your busy out the beauty of this season.
As a practical measure, get out your calendar, mark off "have to" commitments, then pencil in a few special Advent outings or observances - particularly penance services, charitable works, and family time.
That done, give yourself permission to say "no" to anything else that may distract you from a commitment to live the end Advent meaningfully. For, while it may be hard to turn down good things, some of your "no"s might help you better say "yes" to what matter most.
I know that I am entering into the final portion of Advent ready to say "yes" to better preparing my heart and home for Christ. I pray you are, too!
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