My children are thrilled that our favorite time of the year is fast approaching! While it can be a time focused on getting gifts ready for Christmas, it is also such a beautiful, thoughtful time of preparing our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child. This year, I have resolved not to get swept up in the busyness, the hustle and bustle of it all but to focus on keeping it a peaceful time of preparation. Kristen, at Small Treasures wrote a beautiful post reminding us to simplify the season.
Years ago, I used to fly from store to store in search of the best gift for each person on my list. The past two seasons I have done most of my shopping online. However, this year, our Christmas will be almost entirely homemade. I think eliminating the shopping and spending time together doing handcrafts in the afternoons will remove much of the stress from the season.
Last season, I shared quite a bit about our family's Advent devotions and traditions. I am linking them all below for anyone who might be interested in reading them. I do have the remaining Advent devotions as well as those for the Twelve Days of Christmas. If you would like them, do drop me a line and I will pass them along.
Also, be sure to stop by Mary Ellen's special site O Night Divine, the perfect place to find Advent and Christmas inspiration, crafts, recipes and more. Last year, she had several guest authors who offered great ideas to make the season more meaningful.
Here are some of our family's Advent posts from last year:
The Christ Child and the Manger
The Advent Log-Part II
Recent Advent Log Photo
Stir Up Sunday White Fruitcake Recipe
The Remaining Days of Advent/Christmas Devotions
Advent Sugar Cookie Recipe and Patterns for Week Two
Do stop by and see some beautiful Advent Logs made by other families:
Alice's Advent Log
Dawn's Advent Log
Kristina's Advent Log
Margaret's Advent Log
Tracy's Advent Log
Suzanne's Advent Log
